


Silver X: Rise Of The Shifter

by FreedomWhistle



Series: The Story of Reese Michaels [1]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Alfred holds some cookies hostage and gives good advice, Barry Allen cannot be on time, Batman has an interrogation room, Bruce Wayne has a sense of humor, Bruce does not ship Reese and Kaldur, Dick's neck is sensitive, F/M, Gen, Jason is a Speedster without speed, Jason needs to think before he ties somebody up, Kaldur has a jealousy problem, M'gann has a problem with burning cookies, Nightwing Snaps, Nightwing can multi-task, Nightwing needs to get his priorities in order, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reese DOES NOT DIE, Reese is in denial about her feelings, Reese needs to learn to never go into deserted alleys in Gotham, Scarecrow is creepy AF, Silver X has some seriously creepy fans, Someone dies, Wally also does not ship Reese and Kaldur, Wally can tone down his teasing a notch or two, Wally is a good friend, Wally ruins perfectly good moments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-14
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-07-12 08:58:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 59,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15991943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreedomWhistle/pseuds/FreedomWhistle
Summary: [WORK TITLE CHANGED FROM "D.A.W.N ACADEMY" TO "Rise Of The Shifter" because I realized D.A.W.N Academy barely comes into play]Reese Michaels has been best friends with Kaldur'ahm for over three years. When a terrible museum accident gives Reese the power to shapeshift, and Kaldur the ability to communicate with her animal forms, Reese dons a domino mask and joins the Young Justice Team as the hero, Silver X. When drama arises between Reese, Aqualad, and the newly minted Nightwing, and someone from Reese's past lands her on Scarecrow's hit list, can Silver X survive, and keep her primal nature from taking over?(Takes place between S1 and S2 of YJ)





	1. Prologue...Or In Which Kaldur Almost Kills Icicle Jr.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic on AO3, so please bear with me as I navigate the ins and outs of this awesome website! I have read multiple other fics, so I'm not a complete noob, but I am still somewhat new, so please, if I mess anything up with the wording or anything, please feel free to comment.
> 
>  
> 
> -FreedomWhistle

**Bell Reve Penitentiary; February 6th, 23:10 CDT**

There were too many Rogues. Professor Ivo, the Terror Twins, Icicle Jr. They were all chasing two teens through the cellblocks, effectively herding them into a corner. The younger was a girl, dressed in a silver bodysuit with black piping, and a darker 'X' design across her chest and abdomen. A silver domino mask concealed her identity, while her dark brown hair was tied up in a thick fishtail braid.

The older teen was a tall, dark-skinned boy with short, light blond hair. He was wearing a dark gray stealth suit with an A as a belt buckle, and eel tattoos crisscrossing his arms. A sudden ice wall shot up in front of them, and the boy took two water-bearers out of their sheaths on his back, which glowed for a moment before they sliced through the ice, shattering ~~~~it.

The girl whipped around and jumped into the air, turning into a massive silver timberwolf, and leaped onto the Terror Twins, knocking them to the floor, where she growled into their faces. But, a six-inch icicle suddenly protruded from the wolf's chest, splattering dark red blood everywhere as she fell to the ground, human once again. The boy quickly sheathed his water-bearers and caught the girl as she fell, not caring if he got her blood on his hands or suit. The different villains stalked forward and surrounded the two heroes in a rough circle, as the boy murmured into his partner's ear as she struggled to breathe.

"Come on Silver," he whispered. "Don't leave me now." The girl, Silver X, smiled sadly as she started to cough up blood.

"Don't worry, Kaldur. Just because I might not make it out of here alive, doesn't mean that you won't." Kaldur tightened his hold on Silver's body as her chest rose, fell, but didn't rise again.

"Oh, lookie here. The Aqualad has lost his little girlfriend," Icicle Jr. sneered. "Taking down you will be  _so_ much easier than her." Aqualad stood up, gently laid Silver's body on the floor, before unsheathing his water-bearers again. Turning them into twin blades, Kaldur faced the Rogues, his eyes cold, and hard with grief.

"I think not," he said, drawing to his full height of almost six and a half feet. "You will find that I am not that easy to silence." Then, with a roar, Kaldur leaped into the fray, cutting down villains left and right, before it was just him and Icicle Jr. Crossing his blades, Kaldur pressed them against Icicle's windpipe, cutting off his air supply. As the villain's face turned even bluer than normal, Kaldur growled low.

"Give me  _one_ good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now." Icicle's eyes grew wide as he tried to pry the water blades away from his throat. Aqualad noticed that the villain's gaze was lingering over his shoulder, so he glanced back to find three other heroes standing there in shock, staring at their former leader, who held Icicle Jr. in his crosshairs, while the girl Kaldur loved laid in a pool of her own blood, ice jutting out of her chest.

"Aqualad, what happened?" A girl with green skin and surprisingly short red hair asked softly. The muscular boy standing next to her knelt down next to Silver and leaned his ear against her chest. Listening. He stood up after a few moments and looked at Kaldur with a small smile on his face.

"Her heart's still beating," Superboy said simply. Kaldur's heart almost stopped. Turning his head back towards Icicle Jr., he spoke softly, but threateningly.

"It appears that you will live to see another day. But, if I  _ever_ see you threatening Silver X again, I will not hesitate to silence you." He then, somewhat reluctantly, retracted his water-blades and backed up, but then stopped. Because there, in his mind, was a voice he'd never thought he'd hear again.

 _'Don't kill him Kaldur. Not for me.'_ the voice said. It was faint, but it proved Conner's words true. Silver X was alive.

 _'The icicle froze her body. Not her mind nor her heart.'_ Miss Martian spoke as Kaldur knelt down next to Silver. He gently cupped her face in his hands and laid her head on his lap.

 _'How is she still alive?'_ he asked telepathically.  _'The ice went through her chest.'_

 _'It never punctured her heart though.'_ Nightwing said. His black hair was disheveled, and it blew in the wind created by their last two teammates. Kid Flash and Artemis skidded to a stop and stared at the carnage in front of them.

"Kal, what happened?" Artemis asked, her eyes wide. Aqualad sighed heavily before speaking.

"We were compromised," he said quietly, before glaring hard at Wally. "By  _you_." Kid Flash's eyes widened, and everyone's head's whipped towards the speedster, including Artemis, who promptly jumped out of Wally's arms and went to stand by Miss Martian. Under their collective stares, KF started to back away, holding his hands up in what the Team probably assumed to be a gesture of surrender.

"Uh, guys?" Wally asked softly, his already rapidly beating heart starting to go even faster. "What are you talking about? I didn't do or say  _anything_. Hell, I didn't even  _know_ that Silver X and Aqualad were undercover!" Nightwing stepped forward next, his face a stone-cold mask, barely hinting at the pain and grief Dick Grayson was feeling, at losing the one person he confided in most.

"That's the thing, KF," Nightwing said softly, his voice quavering the bare minimum. "Nobody else  _did_. So how was it that I got a transmission from you when I was in Bialya saying that the 'mission' had been compromised?"

It happened so fast. Before Kid Flash could run...before Nightwing could step out of the way...Kaldur sprang. He jumped into the air and turned one of his water-bearers into a dagger, before he drove the blade deep into Dick's chest, hilt-deep, splattering dark-red globs of blood on the cold stone floor.

Nightwing fell to the ground without a sound, but all you could hear...was an agonizing scream.

Coming from Reese.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I edited this chapter after I finished and posted the rest of the book. I ended up adding the part at the end because it made a lot more sense and it flowed better, but don't worry, everything will make sense eventually!
> 
> (SPOILER: DICK DOESN'T DIE!!)


	2. Chapter 1...Or In Which Metropolis Explodes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reese heads to the Metropolis Natural History Museum for an Independence Day Celebration... and it doesn't go as planned.

**Metropolis Natural History Museum; July 4th, 12:30 EDT**

_Eight Months Earlier_

Reese

As Reese Michaels walked into the dinosaur exhibit at the Natural History Museum in Metropolis, she was positively giddy. One year ago today, her best friend Kaldur'ahm of Atlantis had made a team of young superheroes along with Robin, Kid Flash, and Superboy. He'd invited her here today to help them celebrate the anniversary.

While Reese was gazing around at the different fossils on display and Independence Day decorations, she wasn't watching where she was going, and as she was rounding a corner, she rammed into someone.

"I am so sorry. Are you okay?" A voice asked. Reese sat up, rubbing her collarbone, to find herself looking into the green eyes of Kid Flash, aka Wally West. He was also in the grade below her at Keystone High, where he was going to be a junior, and her a senior. She stood up and realized she was almost half a head taller than he was.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay. I just wasn't looking where I was going. Sorry." she finally said. Wally stared at her for a moment before recognition flashed in his green eyes.

"Hey! I know you! You go to Keystone, right?" Reese nodded. "You're the most popular girl in the junior-senior class. Reese Michaels, the girl who's best friends with Aqualad..." he trailed off before his eyes widened. "Wait a minute! You're  _that_ Reese? The one who helped the Team with capturing Professor Ivo and his android weapon shipment last week?" Reese nodded again. The last time they'd talked, Kaldur had told her about how he'd told the team about his friend who knew all their secret identities but swore she'd never tell. Because of that, Reese had helped the Team out on multiple occasions, the most recent being the stopping of an android weapons shipment headed out of Seattle, that had been headed up by Professor Ivo.

But no one, save Kaldur, Wally, and most likely Dick had ever seen her face. The Bat's protege had known about Reese even before Kaldur had told the Team, but he'd trusted her with their secrets and hadn't told Batman, of which Reese was grateful. A familiar voice suddenly greeted Reese as she entered the main room, where a stage had been set up for the ceremony.

"I was wondering when you were going to show." She turned to find Kaldur leaning against the wall, arms crossed and a small smirk dancing across his lips. Despite herself, Reese blushed. 

"I just got here," she told him as they headed towards the stage. " To the museum, I mean. I got  _here_ , as in Metropolis a few hours ago, but my mom had me run some errands for her and Lauren." God, she was rambling now.

"Your mom is having you run errands in Metropolis for you and your sister?" Reese just shrugged

"Beats me. I just don't get why she can't buy her stuff in Central." 

"Thanks for helping us with Ivo, by the way," Kaldur said as they walked towards the stage, which was set up by the T-Rex skeleton. "The Intel really helped." Reese waved her hand to discourage any praise. Truthfully, it made her a little flustered.

"No problem. If you ask me, Ivo's had it coming for at  _least_ a year." Kaldur just chuckled as they reached the others. Wally called from where he was blowing up balloons over by some other boxes.

"Hey, Reese! When you and Mr. Dry-Gills over there are done talking, maybe you could help the  _rest_ of us?" Reese and Kaldur laughed as a girl with green skin and shoulder-length red hair flew over to them.

"You're Reese?" she asked. "As in the Reese who deactivated twenty-five robotic monkeys with the press of a button?" Reese looked warily at Kaldur, who just shrugged in response.

"Uh, yes?" M'gann suddenly swept Reese up into a big hug, much to Kaldur's amusement. Reese shot a glare his way but Kal just grinned, his pale green eyes dancing with mirth. She could see Wally glancing between the two of them, smirking. He stopped though when Reese shot another glare  _his_ way, one almost as bad as a trademarked Bat-glare. When Miss Martian finally let go, Reese reluctantly went over to help Wally with the decorations.

" _So_ ," he started as Reese started blowing up a blue balloon. Once she was done, she picked up a box of streamers and turned back towards Wally, not noticing the way Kaldur was watching them as he helped Robin and Zatanna with some chairs.

"  _So_ what?" she asked, already knowing full well what he was about to say.  Sure enough, Wally slapped her lightly on the arm before continuing.

"Oh come on, Reese. I haven't  _known_ you long, but I know  _of_ you. You're a good cheerleader, but you couldn't act to save your life. I can also tell when people are lying. And  _you_ , my dear, are hiding the fact that you have a crush on Aqualad." Reese about choked on her own spit. Damn Wally and his strangely intuitive mind. She quickly looked around to make sure no one was listening, before turning back to Wally, a scowl on her face.

"So what if I do? What are you going to do about it? Blackmail me?" Wally looked taken aback. He quickly shook his head.

"What? No, no, no. I just-" Reese suddenly set the box down and spun on her heel, leaving Wally standing on the stage.

"Forget it. I gotta go." Just as she was about to walk out of the exhibit, a hand on her shoulder brought her to a stop. Without turning around, Reese knew it was going to be Kaldur. The webbing between his fingers was a dead giveaway as well.

"Are you not staying?" he asked, his voice sounding a little hurt. Reese shook her head sadly.

"I'm sorry Kaldur. I would love too, but I'm just worried Wally will say something, I'll snap, and we both know what happens then." Kaldur's eyes narrowed in confusion.

"What are you worried that he'll say?" Kaldur asked before Reese realized what  _she'd_ said.

"Nothing, nothing!" she quickly tried to assure him. "Just, I'll see you later." Suddenly, she leaned up and pecked Aqualad on the cheek, before walking out, leaving Kaldur there, dumbfounded.

Kaldur

Kaldur'ahm of Atlantis was many things. A sorcerer, a servant to his King, Aqualad, leader of the team. But, as Aqualad walked over to the stage where Artemis and Conner were helping Wally with the boxes, and Robin and Zatanna were hanging banners with Miss Martian, Kaldur felt something he didn't often.

He felt confused. Why did Reese not stay? Why was she scared Wally would say something that would make her lose her temper? It didn't happen often, but when Reese  _did_ lose control of her emotions, it was never a good situation.

"Where's Reese?" Artemis asked. Kaldur glared at Wally for a moment before he turned back to Artemis.

"She left." Wally gaped at Kaldur from where he was about to blow up a balloon.

"What do you mean, 'she left'?" he asked. Kaldur shrugged.

" I mean exactly what I said. Reese seemed upset, so I tried to talk to her, but she left." M'gann turned to Kid Flash, who was starting to look quite sheepish.

"What exactly did you say to her, KF?" she asked. Wally sighed before he turned to M'gann.

"Miss M, read my mind." While she did so, Kaldur turned to Conner, who was shaking his head, as if trying to get rid of an annoying noise.

"Superboy, what is it?" he asked as M'gann retracted her grip from Wally's mind. Conner shook his head as if trying to think.

"A...ticking. Not a clock. Something else." Kaldur's blood ran cold.

"Miss Martian, is Reese still in the museum?" he asked, trying not to let the fear that was racing through his veins show. M'gann nodded.

"Yes, she's in the exhibit with all of the World War II artifacts." her eyes widened as comprehension dawned.

"Kid, Artemis, Zatanna. Get everyone else in the museum out of here. We have a bomb situation."

"What about Reese?" Artemis asked. Kaldur took out his water-bearers and held them at his sides.

"Miss Martian, Superboy, and I will find her. Robin, try to find out where the bomb is located." Wally and Artemis sped off and Zatanna disappeared with a cry of,

"Ekat em ot eht ecnartne! {Take me to the entrance!}"

"Aqualad, there's something you should know," M'gann said, setting a hand on Kaldur's shoulder as he was about to walk out. "When I was in Wally's mind, he showed me what he said to Reese that made her leave." She leaned up to whisper in Kaldur's ear. "She  _loves_ you, Aqualad." Before he could speak, Conner and Robin spoke at the same time.

"Bomb's with the WWII stuff."

"Ticking's getting faster." Aqualad raced through the museum, Superboy and Miss Martian on his heels.

"Aqualad, all of the civilians are out," Artemis said through her commlink. "Do you guys have Reese?" Kaldur gritted his teeth.

"We're getting her. Artemis, take KF, Robin, and Zatanna, and get out of here." he glanced at Conner and M'gann. "You too."

"Aqualad-" Conner started, but Kaldur cut him off.

"Go!" Kaldur ran through to the World War II exhibit, just in time to see Reese get splattered with some kind of silvery goo.

" _No_!" he shouted, running forward to catch her, just as the ground shook and his teammates' voices filled his ear from his comm.

"Kaldur, get out of there!" Paying no attention, Kaldur caught Reese as she was falling, and knelt down on the floor, cradling her body in his lap.

"A-Aqualad?" she whispered hoarsely. Kaldur smoothed some of her dark brown hair from where it was plastered against her forehead.

"Shh, shh," he whispered, stroking her forehead. "I've got you." Turning his head, he caught sight of a metal canister that had rolled under a table. It presumably was where the goo had come from. 'Silver X', it read. Turning it over, Kaldur's breath caught as he read the name of the creator.

"Cadmus," he growled. He'd thought, well, hoped, that they were done with Cadmus once they'd rescued Superboy from the genomorphs and Blockbuster. After he, Robin, and Kid Flash had brought Superboy out, Cadmus had ceased any suspicious activity, or so they'd thought.

"Kaldur, what is it?" Reese whispered.

"Cadmus," he answered. "They're the creators of this 'Silver X', whatever it is. And I think they're responsible for the bomb as well." Reese shot up, fear prominent in her eyes.

"Bomb? What bomb?" she cried out, beginning to cough up some of the Silver X. Kaldur suddenly cupped her face, not entirely sure what he was doing. Neither, apparently, was Reese, because s her eyes shot to his in shock.

"M'gann read Wally's mind, and he told her what he had said that made you leave." Reese's face turned a dark pink, which Kaldur actually found quite endearing. He suddenly tilted her face towards him and smashed his lips to hers. Her lips were soft and warm as she returned his kiss readily. After, as they leaned their foreheads together, Kaldur smirked.

"I love you too, Reese," he whispered. Suddenly, without warning, a cracking sound came from above their heads. Kaldur looked up to see a massive chunk of plaster begin to dislodge from the ceiling. He tackled Reese out of the way just as the bomb exploded, throwing them across the room. Kaldur looked up to find that his ears were ringing. He could faintly hear his friends calling through his commlink, but he couldn't make out what they were saying because of the static. He could see Reese laying unconscious a few feet away, just as another chunk of plaster was about to fall on her head.

"R-Reese," he croaked as he tried to walk over. The ceiling suddenly dislodged, and chunks of concrete started falling around him. Kaldur could see the large piece of plaster falling towards Reese, and he threw himself on top of her just as it slammed into his back, making everything go black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have already written at least four chapters, so I will get those up as soon as possible. After that, I will update whenever I finish a chapter.
> 
> -FreedomWhistle


	3. Chapter 2...Or In Which A Wolf Almost Eats Wally

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wally and Kaldur argue... then Reese almost eats somebody.

**Metropolis Natural History Museum; July 4th, 13:00 EDT**

Wally

Kid Flash had just gotten the last civilian out of the museum when Superboy and Miss Martian appeared at his side.

"What are you two doing here?" he asked as he caught his breath.

"Aqualad made us leave," Superboy said. Wally crossed his arms as he watched Dick and Zatanna step out of a portal of the magician's making, just as the ground trembled. Wally grabbed his commlink and barked into it,

"Kaldur, get out of there!" It seemed that Wally wasn't the only one, because he heard all his friends yelling into their comms at the same time. Surely Aqualad would hear them, grab Reese, then get out. Right? The ground shuddered again before a massive explosion leveled the north end of the museum and threw everyone within a 2,000-foot radius to the ground. As Wally picked himself up before helping Artemis, he saw Robin tap his comm.

"Aqualad, come in!" Dick cried. "Aqualad!" Wally tried as well, but all he could get was static. This wasn't good.

"I-I can't reach him with my telepathy," M'gann said, sniffling a little. "Either of them." Wally was stricken. He let out a scream of rage just as the League showed up. His leader and Kaldur's best friend were probably dead right now, and he couldn't  _do_ anything about it.

"What happened?" Batman asked briskly as he walked up, Superman, Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter, Flash, and Aquaman on his tail.

"We were setting up for the Independence Day celebration when Superboy said he heard a bomb ticking," Robin explained. "The rest of us got everyone else out, but Kaldur went after Reese on his own."

"Reese was here?" Aquaman asked. Wally nodded meekly. 

"Kal invited her to the ceremony." Superman suddenly flew up to the pile of rubble and began to dig through it, lugging huge pieces of concrete off a pile and throwing them to the side. After a few moments, Conner began helping him.

"Where is Aqualad, now?" Aquaman asked. Wally gestured to where Superman and Conner were digging through the debris. After another five minutes, Superman yelled out,

"We found them!" He lifted Kaldur's body from underneath a massive piece of concrete. Aqualad's stealth suit was shredded, and there were multiple cuts and burns all over his body ~~~~. Next, Conner lifted up Reese and everyone sucked in a breath. She was covered in a dried silvery goo, and her clothes were charred, with multiple scratches still bleeding all over her body. Her head lolled over the crook in Conner's elbow, and Wally couldn't help but think she didn't look alive.

"Aqualad shielded her," Superman said as he handed Kaldur over to Aquaman. Then, he took out a small metal canister. "We also found this," he tossed it to Batman. "It's from Cadmus." The lenses of Batman's cowl narrowed so they were little more than white slits, and everyone shuddered a little bit.

"Reese!" Aqualad sat up with a shout from where Aquaman had laid him, before using Kaldur's own water-bearers to restart his heart. "Where is she?" He cried before Aquaman set a hand on his former protege's shoulder.

"Conner has her," he said softly. "But, Kaldur, it looks like she's in a coma. We don't know if she'll wake up." Aqualad shoved his mentor off and stood up, and Wally cringed at the look in the younger Atlantean's eyes. He'd never seen someone's eyes look that cold, except for maybe Killer Frost.

"Apologies my King, but I will not let Reese die when it was my responsibility to save her in the first place."

" _Your_ job?" Wally burst out, his rage bubbling to the surface. He stepped forward until he was practically nose-to-nose with the Atlantean, which was a little difficult, considering Kaldur was almost a whole head taller. "It wasn't ' _your_ job' to do anything! Artemis, Zatanna, and I were the ones who helped get everyone else outside. What did you do? You got caught in the explosion, and now  _your_ best friend is in a coma because of it!" Kaldur's eyes flashed, and Wally suddenly realized he'd crossed a line. Nobody  _ever_ insulted Reese in front of Kaldur or blamed them for anything that wasn't entirely their fault.

Kaldur stalked forward and jabbed a webbed finger against Wally's chest. 

"I. Saved. Her. Life." He emphasized each word with another poke at Wally's suit emblem. "It was your fault that she left the ceremony in the first place. If you hadn't made her lose her temper, we wouldn't even  _be_ in this situation!"

"Well, if you weren't the one she was in love with-"

"Enough!" Robin and Batman barked at the same time before the Bird sent a glare his adoptive father's way. Looks like there was some family drama going on in Gotham. Probably best to stay  _out_ of that situation.

"You can settle this argument later," Batman growled quietly. "For now we have to get Reese to Mount Justice in order to keep an eye on her. We don't know what Cadmus put in this 'Silver X', and we don't know yet if it's dangerous. To us or Reese." Reluctantly, both Wally and Kaldur backed down, much to the former's relief, but they continued to glare at each other the entire way back to the Bioship.

Gently turning over the canister that had once contained Silver X, Batman tilted the container left and right, trying to find any clues that might hint at the former content's ingredients or why it had been at the museum. Then, there, at the bottom of the cylinder, was the clue Bruce Wayne had been looking for. A small gray pawprint had been engraved into the titanium alloy exterior.

"Interesting." He whispered, before pocketing the canister and leaving with the rest of the League. No one saw the figure in a blue business suit standing off to the side. Amanda Waller took out a smartphone and pressed a button before speaking into it.

"Tell Luthor the X has been distributed. Waller out." 

**Mount Justice; July 25th, 18:45 EDT**

Wally

It had been three weeks since the museum explosion, and there had been no change in Reese's condition. She wasn't getting worse, but she hadn't been getting better either. Kaldur had thrown himself into the Team's missions, and Wally had started to notice how they were taking their toll on the Atlantean.

**Recognized Artemis B07, Kid Flash B03**

As Wally and Artemis returned from their date in Star City, they found Kaldur standing at the holo-computers, staring at what looked like a strand of DNA. Artemis sighed before turning to Wally.

"He's looking at her lab report again." She said quietly, so as not to aggravate their team leader more than he already was.

"Kid, Artemis, come look at this." As Wally and Artemis walked over warily, Wally finally saw how  _tired_ Kaldur'ahm looked. His skin was a pale gray, and his eyes had lost their green luster that had always seemed to brighten whenever Reese would help the Team with a mission. Wally sighed. Maybe he'd been a bit too hard on Kal when they'd argued at the museum.

"Look at this DNA strand," Kaldur said as Artemis and Wally stood behind him. To Wally, it looked like a normal strand of genetic material. The strand had all of the normal links and proteins. For a timberwolf.

"So?" Wally asked, unsure of why exactly Aqualad was showing them this. "What does Timberwolf DNA have to do with Reese?" Kaldur didn't answer, just pulled up another slide.

"This was Reese's DNA when we first brought her to Mount Justice. And this," another slide. "was what it was when I took it two hours ago." The two strands were almost identical, as they should be, but for a few key differences.

"Wait," Artemis said as she stared hard at the two slides. "does Reese have  _Timberwolf_ DNA inside her own genetic strands?"

"That's impossible." Wally scoffed.

"Says the guy who thinks science is the answer to everything." Artemis shot back.

"It  _is_!" Wally countered, before waving both his hands at the holo-computers indignantly. " But this, this is something else! What the hell is going on, Kaldur?" The Atlantean shrugged.

"I am not entirely sure. What it looks like to me is that whatever Cadmus put in Silver X caused Reese's DNA to couple with that of various animals." He pulled up a list and stepped aside so Wally and Artemis could see.

"Timberwolf, Siberian Tiger, Mountain Lion, Peregrine Falcon, Bottlenose Dolphin, Snowy Owl- what was  _in_ that stuff?" Wally cried once he finished reading. Kaldur shrugged again.

"I'm not sure. What I do know is-" A crash from down a corridor caused Kaldur's head to snap up and all three pairs of eyes in the cave shot to where the noise came from. Aqualad breathed one word before he was off running.

" _Reese_."

Reese

There were so many smells. That was the first thing Reese noticed when she woke up. All. The. Smells. Reese rolled off the hospital bed she was in, her massive paws landing soundlessly on the stone floor. Wait.  _Paws_? When Reese looked in a large, body-length mirror that was leaning against a wall, she skittered backward in both shock and fear.

There, staring back at her, was a massive silver wolf, not the seventeen-year-old girl with dark brown hair and freckles that had kissed Aqualad at the Independence Day celebration. Oh. My.  _God._ She'd kissed  _Kaldur_. Granted, he  _had_ kissed her back so maybe...The sound of a door opening jerked her out of her thoughts and brought forth something that was definitely _not_ human.

The wolf that was Reese whirled around and snarled at the two newcomers. One was a red-headed boy that the wolf was positive the girl that was the wolf would recognize, but the wolf couldn't for the life of them remember who they were. The blonde girl next to him was obviously a warrior, her body language exuded a feeling of power, strength, and intimidation.

"Reese?" The girl asked. The wolf growled in response. She was no longer Reese, for the timberwolf was a creature of power and grace, not some timid human who got flustered around an Atlantean. The wolf tensed her muscles for a moment, relishing in the way the two human's eyes widened in terror before she leaped.

She knocked the blonde to the ground and jumped on top of the redhead. In the back of the wolf's mind, she knew the girl, Reese, was harboring a deep resentment for him. The wolf opened her jaws, about to clamp down on the boy's neck, when she was slammed into the wall by what felt like a wall of water. Stunned, the wolf wearily lifted her head to see the face of the Atlantean staring down at her, pain glancing across his features.

Reese felt a tingling in her veins as her wolf-form shifted from human to tiger, to dolphin, to cougar, then back to human. She felt blackness lurking at the edges of her vision as she saw Kaldur kneel down next her and gently pull her body into his lap.

"Reese?" he asked, as the darkness started to clear. She smiled wearily.

"Hey."

Kaldur

He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Reese's eyes clear. It had been terrifying to see her as a wolf, with someone who was obviously  _not_ Reese in control. Kaldur had been forced to use his water-bearers on her when Reese had jumped on Wally, almost killing him. The three weeks, when she'd been in her coma, had been hard on Kaldur. On every mission since the museum, more of the Team's Rogues had ended up in the hospital with life-threatening injuries from Kaldur than any that had when Batman was in one of his "moods".

"What happened?" Reese asked quietly as Wally and Artemis shakily stood up, glancing at her warily.

"You turned into a giant silver wolf and almost ate Wally." Artemis finally said, quite bluntly. Reese's eyes widened, and her face turned pale.

"You didn't hurt me, don't worry," Wally assured her quickly. Kaldur was glad that it seemed Kid Flash had gotten over the argument he and Kaldur had had at the museum.

"What do you remember?" Kaldur asked Reese, before adding, "It's been three weeks since Independence Day." Reese's eyes widened again before she spoke.

"Well, I remember arriving at the museum, bumping into Wally, talking to you,  _yelling_ at Wally, leaving, getting sprayed with some silver goo, the bomb, and-" Her face turned red, and for a moment Kaldur thought something was wrong, until he thought back on everything that had happened three weeks ago. Everything Reese had said seemed to be in place, except-Great Poesidon!  _That_ was what she remembered? Out of the corner of his eye, Kaldur saw Wally looking back and forth between him and Reese before breaking into a huge grin.

" _No_ ," he smirked. "You  _didn't_ ," Reese spoke up before Kaldur could open his mouth.

"Yes, Wally. We  _did_." At that moment, the Zeta tubes came online, announcing the arrival of the rest of the Team.

**Recognized Robin B01, Miss Martian B05, Superboy B04, Zatanna B08**

"Hey, everybody! We're back!" M'gann called out. Kaldur stood up and wrapped one arm around Reese's waist, slinging her right arm over his shoulders for support. Wally and Artemis walked out first, with Kaldur and Reese a few meters behind.

"Where's Aqualad?" Robin asked when he saw Wally and Artemis.

"With Reese," Artemis answered. Kaldur clenched his jaw when he heard Robin sigh.

"Again?" The Boy Wonder grumbled. "Can't he see that she probably won't wake up? He needs to get his head in the game before someone else gets hurt." Kaldur and Reese stood in the shadows, watching as Wally suddenly stalked forward and jabbed his finger against Robin's chest.

"What's your deal, Rob?" He asked. "The girl Kaldur loves in a  _coma_ with an experiment from Cadmus running through her system. How would you feel if it was Zatanna? Huh? If it was Zatanna instead of Reese in a coma, tell me you wouldn't be out of your mind with worry, wondering if she'd ever wake up." Kaldur suddenly felt Reese's body start to shrink next to him. He looked down to see the Reese-wolf staring up at him with Reese's big brown eyes. Kaldur realized that when the wolf had attacked Wally earlier, her eyes had been a silvery-gray.

Before Kaldur could stop her, Reese began trotting over to where everyone else was gathered around Wally and Dick, who were still arguing.

"Reese!" Kaldur hissed as he watched her enter the cave. "Reese, come back!"


	4. Chapter 3...Or In Which Silver Becomes A Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reese finally joins the Team, because of a tragedy. Then she meets Roy.

**Mount Justice; July 25th, 19:30 EDT**

Reese

She was starting to get the hang of this whole shape-shifting thing. At least this time, Reese was the one in control of the wolf. As she trotted out into the cave, Reese could hear Kaldur behind her telling her to come back. She ignored him.

Robin and the others' shocked looks would have been enough to satisfy Reese's blackmail quota for a long time, that is, if she hadn't heard the growling.

"[Who are you?]" A low voice rumbled from behind her. Reese turned around to see Wolf standing a few feet away, teeth bared and hackles raised.

"[I'm a friend.]" Reese woofed back. Apparently, Wolf didn't believe her, because he began to stalk forward, growling low in his throat.

"[You're here to steal my pack.]" The Kobra Venom-enhanced canine accused. Reese quickly shook her head, her dark side itching to come out.

"[I swear to you, I won't steal your pack.]" She tried to reason with Wolf as he backed her even farther into a corner.

"[I don't believe you.]" he growled. As he leaped towards her, teeth and claws bared and ready for ripping into her flesh, Wolf was suddenly thrown to the side. Reese lifted her head to see Kaldur standing protectively in front of her, water-bearers crossed. Conner suddenly shoved his way forward and stood toe-to-toe with the Atlantean, rage burning in his eyes.

"What do you think you're doing?" he shouted. Reese recoiled from the anger in Superboy's words and curled around Kaldur's feet, tail between her legs. She could see Wally and Artemis smirking from where they were standing behind Miss Martian, but she chose to ignore them and instead focused on the argument between Conner and Kal.

"-someone I love." she caught the end of what Kaldur had been saying, and despite herself, Reese's tail started wagging.

' _Dammit. Stupid wolf-tail, stop_.'  M'gann looked quizzically at the silver wolf in front of her for a moment, before her eyes shot to Aqualad, then back to Reese. When her eyes widened in recognition, the Martian flew forwards and practically tackled the Reese-wolf in a hug, tears streaming down her cheeks. Reese yipped in surprise as M'gann suddenly spoke in her mind.

' _I am soo glad you're okay._ ' she said. ' _Though not as much as Kaldur is, I'm sure._ '

' _Hey, I resent that._ ' Aqualad grumbled good-naturedly. ' _I was just as worried as everybody else._ '

' _Speak for yourself, Dry-Gills,_ ' Wally cut in. ' _I'm_ _not the one who put Ultra-Humanite in Belle Reve's infirmary indefinitely because of what he said about Reese._ ' Sitting up, Reese suddenly shifted back to human form, much to the shock of Conner, Zatanna, and Robin.

"Still think I'll never wake up, Grayson?" she asked coolly. Boy Wonder just scowled and headed to the training room.

"Wait, so now you can turn into a wolf?" Zatanna asked as Kaldur helped Reese stand. He didn't need to, but she appreciated it.

"Not just a wolf," Reese smirked. "Come on." She led everyone into the swimming grotto, where Reese stopped at the edge of the pool. 

"Ready?" she asked, before doing a backflip and turning into a silver bottlenose dolphin in mid-air. After she resurfaced, she clicked to Kaldur, "[Hey, Dry-Gills. Wanna race?]" Aqualad smirked at the challenge and dove in after Reese. Bracing himself on the edge of the pool, he said to Wally,

"Kid, time us." Kid Flash held up a stopwatch in his hand and counted down on his fingers.

"Three, two, one. Go!"

Kaldur

He was off like a shot. Atlantean against human shape-shifter, who would win? Both able to say underwater for long periods of time, it would be a close race.

Down the length of the pool, touch the wall at the far end, jump back in, then swim back to the starting point the fastest. Kaldur couldn't help but notice that he and Reese jumped out of the pool at the same time, with Reese shape-shifting back to human in mid-air again, and landed feet-first a split second before Aqualad.

"Ha!" she laughed breathlessly as she put her hands on her knees, catching her breath. "I won!" Kaldur chuckled as he watched Reese in fond amusement.

"So you did," he said. "Well done." As everyone came up to congratulate Reese on her win, M'gann said something that made everyone freeze.

"Hey! You should join the Team now!" Everyone's eyes shot from Reese to Kaldur in the span of half a second. He blinked for a moment, processing, but before he could speak, the Zeta tubes turned on, signaling the arrival of someone to the cave.

**Recognized Batman 02, Flash 04, Aquaman 06, Black Canary 13**

As each member of the Team filed out of the grotto, Reese and Kaldur hung back. Turning to the girl next to him, Kaldur cleared his throat.

"Would you  _like_ to join the Team?" He asked, unsure. The smile Reese gave him in return was enough to make Kaldur's heart skip a beat.

"Hey, when we were in the museum, you never actually said  _why_ you loved me," Reese said as they walked out of the grotto. Kaldur just shrugged.

"Did I really need a reason?" he asked, thinking back to eight months ago. He shuddered as he remembered what had almost happened to Reese. What  _would've_ happened if he hadn't gotten to her in time? "I was going to tell you when we were in Coast City, but..." She nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, it wasn't  _exactly_ the most romantic time to tell someone how you feel." As they walked into the cave, they caught the tail-end of Batman's sentence.

"...terrible explosion in Keystone City." he was saying. Kaldur and Reese froze as everyone turned to look at them, their faces a mix of pity, and regret. Aquaman was the first to step forward, setting a hand on Reese's shoulder. Kaldur felt a feeling of dread pooling in his gut as his King spoke.

"Reese, I'm glad you're okay," he said before a small frown marred his features. "But, your parents..." Reese crumpled to the ground with a sob as Kaldur and M'gann knelt down next to her, wrapping her up in a hug. After a moment, Kaldur stood up. Facing his former mentor, he stared hard at the older Atlantean.

"What about Reese's sister? Lauren, where is she?"

"In Central City with the Garricks. We were able to get her out of the house before the house collapsed. But Reese's parents, they were trapped in the basement." Flash said.

"How did the explosion happen?" M'gann asked as she helped Reese stand, one arm still wrapped consolingly around her waist. Kaldur could see the four leaguers take a deep breath before finally, Black Canary spoke.

"We found six kilos of C-4 plastic explosive in a chest under the fireplace," she said, eliciting a startled gasp from the team.

' _Another bomb._ ' Kaldur thought grimly. ' _Great._ '

' _What are going to do?_ ' Artemis asked through the mind link. Reese shook her head sadly.

' _It looks like now I have no choice._ ' she said as she looked towards Batman.

"Let me join the Team," Reese said. Black Canary looked at her in shock, while Flash had a small frown on his face. Aquaman just looked amused.

"Reese, are you sure?" Black Canary asked as Batman stepped forward.

"Know that once you start, there is no backing out," he said firmly. Kaldur half-expected Reese to back down, to look scared, just like everyone else who met the Batman was. But, Reese just stared at the Dark Knight defiantly, fists clenched at her sides. Aqualad had to commend her on her bravery. Not just anyone could stare into the lenses of the Batman's cowl and  _not_ be terrified.

"Let. Me. Join." Reese bit out through gritted teeth. Everyone took a slight step back, even Batman, but he recovered quickly.

"Fine, but know that you will be training every day with Black Canary until she deems you ready for the field." Reese gave a solid nod, and Kaldur couldn't keep the corner of his lip from quirking.

"Wait!" Miss Martian suddenly cried as the older heroes were about to leave through the Zeta tubes. "Reese needs a superhero name before she can join the team." Kaldur saw Reese's cheeks turn a light pink as everyone's eyes shot to hers.

"Well," she started. "What about Silver X? That chemical, goop, whatever it was, is the thing that gave me my shape-shifting powers in the first place. It only seems fair." Batman nodded stiffly as he tapped a few buttons on a keypad next to the Zeta tubes.

**Recognized Silver X B10**

"Welcome to the Team," Batman said as he stepped into the Zeta tube. "Silver X"

**Central City; August 15th, 10:30 CST**

Reese

Reese was nervous. She, Wally, Artemis, and Kaldur were finally going to see Reese's sister, Lauren, who was ten years old and staying at the house of Jay and Joan Garrick.

**Recognized Aqualad B02, Kid Flash B03, Artemis B07, Silver X B10**

As they all stepped out of the Zeta tube into the hot late August sun of Central City, Reese sighed. It had been two weeks since Reese and Lauren had become orphans, and the wound was still fresh.

"Don't worry," Kaldur reassured her, setting a cool, webbed hand on Reese's shoulder. "I know Lauren will be glad to see you." As they walked up to the Garricks' front door, Reese couldn't help but feel apprehensive.

What if Lauren didn't want to see her? What if she somehow blamed her for the explosion in Keystone, and what had happened to their parents? What if-? The door opening snapped Reese out of her thoughts. In the doorway stood an elderly woman with gray hair and a grandmother-like physique. The woman's eyes softened as she looked from Wally to Artemis, to Kaldur, then back to Reese.

"You must be Reese," she said softly. Reese nodded her head. Joan then swept the taller girl up in a big hug. "Oh, sweetheart, I'm so sorry for what happened to your parents. No child should have to live through that, not without their parents." Reese buried her face into the elderly woman's shoulder as the tears she'd been holding in for the past two weeks started falling down her cheeks. It also seemed like Reese was getting a lot of hugs lately. Joan, M'gann, Kaldur...

"Reese?" A timid voice broke through Reese's thoughts and her head snapped up. Standing behind Joan was a small ten-year-old girl with short blond hair and blue eyes. Reese's eyes widened as she recognized the child.

"Lauren?" Reese breathed quietly as she waited for Lauren to turn her back on her sister. But, when Joan's body was replaced with that of a preteen, Reese wrapped her arms around her younger sister and held her like she'd lose her if she ever let go.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" Lauren whimpered."When I heard that you were in a coma, and then the house blew up and-" Reese rubbed soothing circles on Lauren's back as the younger girl curled into Reese like a baby monkey, her whimpers getting softer as she tired herself out.

"Shh, Shh," Reese whispered to her. "Everything's going to be fine. I won't let anything happen to you." But, Lauren was already asleep. Joan led them all inside and pointed up the stairs.

"Second door on the right is where Lauren's sleeping." she said. Reese nodded and carried her little sister like a baby up to her room. As she walked inside, Reese couldn't help but notice how subdued everything was. It seemed like their parents' death had hit Lauren harder than she thought. And why wouldn't it? Her sister had been caught in an explosion that had left her in a coma for a month, and then Lauren and Reese had lost _everything_ , including their parents, when someone had decided to blow up their house.

When she set Lauren on the blue-quilted twin bed, Reese saw a photo on the small nightstand. It had been taken a few months ago, when Reese, Lauren, and their parents had taken a trip to the Bahamas to celebrate the end of school.

Lauren must have had it on her when Barry had run her out of the house. The picture had been taken by one of those tourist photographers that were always walking around, and it clearly showed how  _happy_ everyone had been. Lauren was wearing a Hello Kitty one-piece swimsuit she'd gotten before they'd left, and Reese was wearing a red bikini with black swirls. They'd been having a sand fight when the picture was taken, and their hair was messed up and they were both on the ground, rolling with laughter.

Tears prickled in Reese's eyes as she realized that just a month later, everything would fall apart for their family. A pair of strong arms suddenly wrapped around her middle and Reese looked up to see Kaldur looking down at her, sympathy swimming in his pale green eyes.

"Are you alright?" he asked her. Reese blinked before realizing he'd asked her a question.

"What? Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Did you need something?" Kaldur smiled softly.

"Joan was just wondering if the four of us wanted to stay for lunch. She said she's making chicken. She brought Wally and Artemis out to the garden a few minutes ago." He looked at her again, his face a little skeptical.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Reese nodded.

"Yes, Kaldur. I'm fine." She lightly pressed her lips to his cheek, before walking out the door. "You coming?" she called back.

**Mount Justice; August 15th, 14:00 EDT**

Once they got back to the cave, Reese had calmed down a bit, but she was still worried about Lauren. She was so lost in thought that she missed hearing Artemis' proposition.

"So Reese, what do you say?"

"Sorry, what?" Reese asked sheepishly. "I wasn't listening." Artemis rolled her eyes.

"That was obvious. I  _said_ , do you think we should go investigate what Robin found?" Reese narrowed her brown eyes in confusion.

"What did he find?" Artemis just groaned in exasperation.

"Nevermind. Just, come with me." Before Reese could stop her, Artemis had grabbed her wrist and was dragging her back to where their living quarters were.

"Bye Wally! Bye Kaldur!" Artemis cried as she dragged a still-confused Reese around a corner. "Good." the archer huffed once they were out of the boys' sightlines. "Now we can get ready."

"Ready for  _what_?" Reese cried. "Artemis,  _where_ are we going?" But, the daughter of Sportsmaster just waved her hand dismissively.

"I'll tell you in a minute. For now, get your suit on." Reese was about to argue, asking things like,  _Why did she need to put her suit_ on?, _Where are we going?_ , and  _Why won't anybody tell her what the hell is going on?_ But, she held her tongue and grabbed the box Artemis handed her as she stalked into the bathroom.

xxxxxx

Forty-five minutes later, Reese walked out of Artemis' bathroom wearing the Silver X costume Black Canary had sent her the day before. A silver bodysuit with black accents, and a light gray 'X' across her torso. A silver domino mask completed the ensemble, along with a pair of light gray knee-high boots.

"You look  _amazing_!" Artemis cried as she saw Reese. "Kaldur's going to get knocked off his feet." Silver sighed, crossing her arms.

" _Now_ will you tell me where we're going?" Artemis shrugged.

"Robin got a lead on something from Cadmus, so he decided to let us all tag along." Silver X started pulling her hair into a thick fishtail braid as she and Artemis bumped into Miss Martian when they were walking into the cave. As she stuffed an extra ponytail into a pocket on the side of her costume, Artemis threw her hands up in indignation.

"What? How the hell do you have pockets and I don't?" Silver just shrugged.

"I don't know, I'm not the one who made it," she said as Kid Flash and Aqualad turned around. Silver looked behind them at the holo-computer screen that showed what looked to be a surveillance video. "What's this?" she asked.

"Cadmus Lab in Gotham City," Robin said as he walked up. "There's been suspicious activity reported there for months. It started up about six months before the museum." Reese quickly did the mental math.

"Wouldn't that put the start right after you guys defeated Vandal Savage?" She asked, before turning to Robin. "If it's in Gotham City, why aren't you and Batman handling it?"

"Batman's busy," he said shortly. "And since he doesn't trust me to go by myself, he had me call in reinforcements." The Zeta tube turned on at that time, as Kaldur was saying,

"We should see if there are any production documents of Silver X, the chemical, not Reese, once we get to Gotham."

**Recognized Red Arrow 21**

The ginger archer strode up to the Team before his eyes landed on Reese.

"Who's the newbie?" Roy asked coldly. Reese huffed and crossed her arms.

"Silver X. Shape-shifter."

"Red Arrow. Archer." He turned back towards Aqualad, not seeing the death-glare Reese shot him once he'd turned his back. "So, you guys are investigating this Cadmus lab too?" Kaldur nodded.

"Yes. One month ago, Silver X and I got caught in the explosion at the Metropolis Natural History Museum, where Ree-uh, _Silver_ , got sprayed with a Cadmus experiment. It's what gave her her superpowers."

"So, Silver," Red Arrow started, turning around again. "You got a name?"

"Yes." When Reese didn't elaborate, Red Arrow narrowed his eyes.

"Are you going to  _tell_ me?" Silver just shrugged, smirking to herself.

"Probably not." Red Arrow just grumbled and turned back towards Aqualad, who was smiling as well, but he stopped once Roy glared at him.

"What are  _you_ doing at Cadmus, Red?" Artemis asked.

"I'm going to find the  _real_ Roy Harper," he said shortly. Everyone gasped, except for Kaldur, Robin, and Reese. "You don't seem surprised," Roy said to Silver. She shrugged.

"I know things," she said simply, before turning to Kaldur, her eyebrow raised. "So, are we going to Cadmus or not?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 3, and I'm not even kidding, I cried a little bit as I was writing the interaction between Reese, Lauren, and Joan. Next up is their investigation at Cadmus, and THAT is a fun chapter. (Reese is a good liar in the next one)
> 
> -FreedomWhistle


	5. Chapter 4...Or In Which Kaldur Screws The Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Team and Red Arrow investigate the Cadmus lab in Gotham City.

**Bioship; Gotham City, August 15th, 23:10 EDT**

Kaldur

He was staring. He couldn't help it. She was _stunning_. With her silver suit and mask, and those  _boots_...

' _You're staring._ ' Wally thought to him on a "private" link. Kaldur jolted and turned away from where Silver X was talking to Zatanna on the other side of the bioship.

' _I am not._ ' he said indignantly.

' _You totally are._ ' Artemis' smug voice filtered into his mind next, to which Kal just muttered a few choice Atlantean words over to her end of the mind link.

' _Tut, tut, Kaldur'ahm._ ' Wally mentally scolded him. ' _Where did you learn such language?_ '

'  _If you like Reese so much, why don't you two just go out already?_ ' Conner asked.

' _Yeah,_ ' Artemis agreed. ' _I mean, you two said you loved each other at the museum before it exploded, and you kissed, so what's holding you back from getting your girl?_' Artemis asked.

' _Okay, first of all, she's not my "girl", and second of all, the mission._ '

' _Oh, don't give us that bull about the "mission", Aqualad._ ' Robin growled from his spot behind Reese. ' _Batman does it way too often as it is. I don't need it from you too._ '

"We're here." Miss Martian said out loud, making the five heroes who were arguing jump a little.

"Okay," Kaldur said quickly, slipping back into leader mode quite easily. "Alpha Squad, deploy." Kid Flash and Artemis stood up, before dropping to the ground through two holes that opened up in the hull of the Bioship. Kaldur waited a minute before speaking again. "Beta Squad."

"Well, sweetheart looks like we're up," Red Arrow smirked, making Kaldur's teeth grind. "Mind giving me a kiss before we go?" The Bioship, apparently, had other ideas, because Roy suddenly dropped to the roof of the lab with a surprised shout. Reese made to go after him, but Kaldur set a hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

"No," he said. "Let me." Then, without giving Silver a chance to speak, Aqualad dropped through the hull, landing silently on the roof behind Roy.

"So, Aquaboy, you ever gonna tell me you were dating the newbie?" The archer asked without turning around.

"We're not dating," Kaldur retorted, purely on reflex. "And it's Aqualad, not Aquaboy." Roy just smirked in response

"Well, your not-girlfriend seems to think differently. She told me you kissed?" Kaldur glared at him, not noticing the figure that landed softly behind them, before turning into a silver wolf.

"It was a life-or-death situation, Red. The kiss didn't mean anything." Wally's voice in Kaldur's commlink made him freeze.

" _Dude_. Not  _cool_." Another voice from behind Kaldur almost made him drop his water-bearers.

"[Didn't mean anything?]" it growled. Kal turned around to see Reese, in her wolf form, standing stock-still behind him, her eyes changing rapidly back and forth between dark brown and silvery gray. Kaldur stepped forward, but Reese took a step back.

"[Silver,]" he started, but the Reese-wolf shook her head, her eyes finally settling on brown.

"[Don't 'Silver' me, Kaldur'ahm]" she glared at him before her eyes saddened. "[Maybe Luke was right. Maybe dating a superhero  _will_ always lead to disaster. Don't worry, I won't distract you from your  _mission_ anymore.]" As she turned around, Kaldur called after her.

"[Silver! Silver!  _Reese_!]" But, Reese didn't stop.

"[Goodbye Kaldur.]" was the last thing she told him, before the Reese-wolf opened the door using her jaws, and entered the building, swallowed up by Cadmus. As Kaldur turned back around, stricken, he saw Roy staring at him with a shocked look on his face.

"What?" he barked, his eel tattoos crackling with electricity for a moment before stopping.

"What did you say to her?" Red Arrow asked. Kaldur stared at him, confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Kaldur, you were  _barking_ , as in, dog-barking. What happened?" Kaldur blinked in shock. He'd been  _barking_? It hadn't seemed like he'd been, it seemed like he'd just been talking normally. But, what if he _hadn't_ been?

"I-I don't know," he said finally, looking back to where Reese had disappeared. "I truly, do not know."

xxxxxx- **August 16th, 00:09 EDT**

Kaldur slipped into a storage room off the main hallway and tapped his comm.

"Robin, status."

"Okay," the Boy Wonder said. "There's seems to be a large room off to your right that should be another storage room, only it has six guards, and-shit."

"Robin, what is it?" Kaldur asked. he could hear the younger boy grumbling in the background, but he couldn't make out the words. "Robin!"

"Silver's in there, Aqualad." Robin kept talking, but Kaldur wasn't listening anymore. All he saw was red. Sure, they might have been fighting, but Reese was still his teammate, his friend, and he  _loved_ her. He'd only said those things on the roof to get Red Arrow off his back. That man was too nosy for his own good. Kicking open the room's door, he found Reese squaring off against six security guards, two of which were already unconscious. It seemed like they were all trying to grab at a file Reese held in her hands.

'D.A.W.N Academy', it read.

"Come, Aqualad," One of the guards purred with a distinctly feminine voice. It sounded familiar, but Kaldur couldn't place it. "Join us in a game of cat and mouse."

"Dammit, Selina." Robin hissed through the comm. Selina Kyle, Catwoman. Of  _course_. They were in Gotham, why  _wouldn't_ the thief be here?

"Now, if you'll just give me the file you're holding, we'll all go our separate ways." Selina was saying as Kaldur tuned back into the conversation. He looked up to see Silver X and Catwoman facing each other, each of them in a defensive stance, while the other three guards began to advance towards Reese. Oh no, they don't. Kaldur quickly kicked one in the head, knocking him over and effectively causing a domino effect, as each guard toppled over one by one. When they were all laying on the ground, groaning, he turned back to Reese and Selina.

"Why do you need this file?" Reese asked as Selina slowly backed her into a corner. Just as she was about to swipe at Silver with her claws, Selina was stopped by a massive wall of glowing blue water. She looked up to see Aqualad standing protectively in front of Silver X, water-bearers crossed. He glared at her and shook his head once.

"Aw, you know kitties don't like water," She pouted.

" _Domestic_ cats may not like water, but tigers love the stuff," Reese said just as she morphed into the Reese-tiger and stalked out from behind Kaldur, her metallic black stripes prominent against her silver coat.

"[You ready?]" A silky voice growled before Kaldur realized it was coming from Reese. He wondered how he could understand her while she was a tiger, but right now they had bigger problems to deal with.

"[Am I ready?]" He growled back, still not entirely sure how he was doing it. "[Come on Reese, you know me better than that. Of course, I'm ready.]" It didn't take long to defeat Catwoman once Kaldur and Reese were in sync. Kaldur made the wall of water go up even higher before he growled low in his throat and pushed it towards Selina, drenching her.

"Ugh, you young heroes are such  _mosquitoes_. I don't know why Batman insisted on training you. You're just annoying little children."

"[Mosquitoes?]" Reese growled, before knocking Selina unconscious with a paw swipe to the head. "[Really?]" Kaldur just chuckled as he tied up the villainess, before grabbing the D.A.W.N Academy file and heading out. Reese shifted back to human and they started walking back to the Bioship. Kaldur was so lost in thought, he didn't notice that Reese had stopped in the middle of the hallway until he ran into her. They were almost the same height, with Reese's eyes roughly where Kaldur's nose was.

' _Why'd you stop?_ ' he asked her telepathically. ' _Is something wrong?_ ' Kaldur didn't know what he was expecting, but Reese spinning him around and pressing him against the wall was definitely  _not_ one of them.

' _Look me in the eyes and tell me you didn't mean what you said on the roof with Red Arrow._ '

' _I didn't mean it._ ' Her eyes flashed for a moment before she leaned in closer, making Kaldur's breath hitch.

" _Say_ it, Kaldur'ahm." Kaldur narrowed his eyes and tried to focus on anything except the woman in front of him. He'd known Reese for over three years, and she seemed to get even more beautiful as time went on.

"I. Didn't. Mean it." He rasped, his voice lower and rougher than normal. "You know how Roy is. I just said those things to get him off my back." Reese glanced at him, still looking skeptical.

"Are you sure?" she asked, leaning even closer until her nose brushed against his. Kaldur's throat ran dry as Reese gently ran her fingers over his gills, making them flutter.

"Screw the mission," Kaldur growled, before deactivating his commlink and flipping around so Reese was in his place. If anyone caught them, it would be a whole new level of disaster, but for now, they had time.

Reese

The feel of Kaldur's lips pressed against her own was something Reese relished. Never mind that they were making out in the middle of a Project Cadmus hallway and if anybody were to catch them, it would be a complete disaster, but it was something Reese had wanted to do when she and Kaldur  _weren't_ in a life or death situation.

"You know if someone catches us, we're going to be in so much trouble, right?" Kaldur smirked before capturing Reese's mouth, his hot tongue tangling with her own.

"Let them talk," he growled. "No one needs to know." Robin's voice in Reese's commlink made them both jolt.

"Robin to Silver X. I can't reach Aqualad, do you know where he is?" Reese felt her breath hitch as Kaldur started to nibble on her earlobe.

"No, I haven't seen him," she said breathlessly. "Isn't he with Red Arrow?"

"Red Arrow's on the Bioship. He says Kaldur went to find you an hour ago and hasn't seen him since."

"Hmmm." She hummed as Kaldur kissed her again.

"Hey, Silver, you okay?"

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. I'm sure Kaldur's okay. I'll meet you guys at the Bioship in a few minutes, 'kay?" After Robin signed off, Reese turned off her comm and turned back to Kaldur, who smirked before she slapped him upside the head.

"Ow! Hey, what was that for?"

"Mr. I'm going to deactivate my comm.  _Not_ one of your brightest ideas, Kaldur'ahm." Kaldur leaned forward again and Reese felt her cheeks flush.

"Have I mentioned how much I love it when you say my name?" She tapped a finger against her chin before smiling at the Atlantean next to her.

"Maybe a  _few_ times?" She grabbed his hand and dragged him to the stairwell that led to the roof, where the Bioship was waiting.

"What are we going to do once we get back to the other?" Kaldur asked as they neared the top.

"Pretend we still hate each other. Also, let me go out first so it doesn't look like I knew where you were the entire time."

"Why?" Kaldur's question made Reese freeze just as she was about to open the door that went outside.

"Why what?" Kaldur pressed her against the door, and Reese was suddenly glad that it opened inward, and not outward.

"Why must we hate each other in front of the others?" Reese's breath hitched as Kaldur feathered kisses along her jawline.

"Because it'll be fun. I like seeing Wally confused. It's hilarious." Kal suddenly leaned back, a jealous glint in his eye.

"As long as that's the only thing you like about him," he said.

"Ooh, jealous Kaldur. Fun." She was about to kiss him again when someone tried to open the door.

"Silver?" A voice called out. Reese and Kaldur froze. It was Conner. "Silver, are you trapped inside? Don't worry, I'm going to kick the door down." Silver looked towards Aqualad before she practically tackled him down the stairs, just as the door flew off its hinges, kicked off by Superboy.

"Silver? Reese, are you in here?" Reese was trying really hard not to breathe, but with Kaldur trapped beneath her body weight, it was kind of hard. He smelled like the sea, and it was strangely soothing. Quickly standing up, Reese dusted off her costume before rounding the corner to meet Conner, pretending to be surprised to see him.

"Oh, Conner! Hey. What are you doing here?" Conner looked at her quizzically for a moment before speaking.

"Didn't you hear me calling for you?" he asked. Reese shook her head.

"No, I just ran up here when I heard the door crash open. Is everything okay?" Conner shrugged.

"I guess so. Hey, why's your heart beating so fast?" Reese's eyes shot to the clone's in front of her as he slowly walked towards her.

"What?" she asked, trying not to let her nervousness show. Conner gestured to her vaguely before speaking.

"Your heart. It's beating really fast. Are you okay? Did you find Aqualad?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine. And no, I didn't find Aqualad, but I'm sure he's fine. Come on, let's go back to the Bioship. I'm sure Wally's getting impatient." A low growl suddenly reached Reese's ears from Kaldur's general direction, and Reese smirked before Superboy craned his neck to look around the stairwell.

"Did you hear something?" He asked.

"Hear something? No, I didn't hear anything." Geez, Wally was right. She  _was_ a terrible liar. Time to improvise. Conner shrugged.

"I could've sworn I heard a growl." Reese peeked her head around Conner to see... an empty stairwell. Kaldur was gone.

"Phew," Reese let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Conner had started to walk downstairs when an idea suddenly flew into Reese's head. "You said you heard a growl?" she asked him. Superboy nodded.

"Mhmm."

"It's a, uh, side-effect of when I turn into a tiger. I can't control-grrr." She growled suddenly, then smiled sheepishly. "See?"

' _And who says you can't lie?_ ' Kaldur's voice filtered into Reese's mind as she and Conner walked outside.

' _Wally._ ' Reese answered. ' _By the way, where are you?_ '

' _Picking up the file Selina was after. I left it in the corridor when we were uh-_ '

' _I get it. See you in a bit._ '

**Project Cadmus; Gotham City, August 16th, 01:30 EDT**

Kaldur

Twenty minutes later, Kaldur walked up to the Bioship, carrying the D.A.W.N Academy file under his arm.  He chucked it at Silver X's head, knowing she would catch it, and sure enough, just before it would have slammed into her skull, Reese snatched it out of the air and onto her station console.

"You find something?" Robin asked as Kaldur sat down and Miss Martian took off. Kal saw Reese nod as she flipped through various papers that were inside the folder.

"You know Two-Face has a son?" she asked suddenly as she stopped at a particular paper. M'gann almost crashed from the force of Robin's shout.

"What?" Reese shrugged.

"He's adopted. But, he's in the file as a 'Rule 1', whatever that means." Kaldur watched as Robin quickly flipped through the file's pages, before stopping.

"Richard O'Shay-Dent," he read. Kid Flash snickered.

"Hey, it looks like you have the same name as a villain's son, Rob." Robin silenced him with a bat-glare. Kaldur also noticed that Reese's face had gone pale, and her hands were trembling.

' _Who else is in there?_ ' he asked her.

' _It was-_ ' she was cut off.

"Peter Isley, Luke Racer, Evaline Nygma-wait," Kaldur felt his blood run cold as Wally suddenly flipped back a page. "What is the Leech doing in the file for D.A.W.N Academy?"

"Who's the Leech?" Artemis asked. Kaldur felt his heart clench when he saw the look on Reese's face. Pure terror. It had been almost eight months since Aqualad had saved Reese from the Leech in Coast City, but the event was still scarred, in both their minds.

"It was when you guys were at Haly's Circus," Reese began. Kaldur looked at her in shock.

"Silver, you don't have to tell them," he said, but Reese shook her head.

"No, Kaldur, I do. If we want to figure out what D.A.W.N Academy is, then the Team needs to know the full story between us and Luke Racer."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aah, we're finally getting into some plot! The next couple chapters will be a flashback focusing on what happened to Reese in Coast City.
> 
> -FreedomWhistle


	6. Chapter 5...Or In Which Kaldur Loses It(Coast City:Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A flashback where we find out what happened between Reese, Kaldur, and the Leech in Coast City.

**Bioship; Over Gotham City, August 16th, 01:45 EDT**

Reese

"It was when the rest of you went undercover at Haly's Circus," Reese started again, trying desperately to keep her hands from shaking.

' _You don't have to do this,_ ' Kaldur thought to her. ' _Reese, I know what he did to you, but-_ ' Robin's exasperated sigh cut off whatever he was going to say next.

"Oh, just get on with it already!" He cried, making everyone jump. Kaldur shot him a glare, but Reese knew that the Boy Wonder wouldn't listen.

" _Anyways_ , I was in Coast City for a journalism convention when I ran into Cheshire," she glanced at Artemis out of the corner of her eye, but the blonde archer showed no reaction to the mention of her sister. If anything,  _Roy_ was the one who tensed up at the mention of Jade. "She didn't try and kill me or anything, but Jade seemed terrified of something. That something, it turned out, was Luke.

"The Leech had taken over seventy-five hostages in one of Coast City's tourist attractions, and Cheshire had been one of them. Somehow, she escaped and found me, because she knew I was working with the Team." M'gann looked at Artemis in confusion.

"Isn't your sister part of the League of Shadows?" Artemis nodded. "So, why didn't she just defeat the Leech when she had the chance?"

"The Leech can drain the life force from organisms and turn them into a pile of bones." Kaldur supplied. Reese shuddered involuntarily, remembering the sixteen skeletons that had once been perfectly healthy people, which had been left at the Coast City Marina after Luke escaped.

"Jade and I saved most of the hostages, but sixteen didn't make it,  _and_ the Leech escaped. The journalism seminar called for an original piece, so I took some pictures, then headed back to my hotel room."

"And that was the end of it?" M'gann asked, somewhat hopefully. Wally shook his head grimly.

"Not even close."

"I had been back in my room for maybe twenty-five minutes when Kaldur called to ask if I wanted to join him and Wally for a movie night in the cave.

"She said 'yes', and there was a Zeta tube close by, so I figured she'd be to the cave in fifteen minutes, tops. But, when she didn't show up for an hour, I started to get worried."

"So he dragged  _me_ along with him to Coast City to try and find his missing girlfriend."

"We're  _not_ dating!" Reese and Kaldur cried in unison. Reese was getting tired of having this conversation. She legitimately didn't know how long she and Kaldur could keep up the charade.

"What happened next?" Miss Martian asked quickly, trying to keep from starting an argument.

"We found Reese's hotel room ransacked. Clothes, books, papers, furniture. It was  _everywhere_ , tossed all over the place." Wally said, growing serious once more.

"I found the pictures Reese had taken on the nightstand, along with a leech," Kaldur added, his face growing pale.

"Like, an _actual_ leech?" Zatanna asked, looking disgusted. Reese shrugged.

"That's what they told me." Red Arrow spoke for the first time since he'd gotten on the Bioship from Cadmus.

"You weren't in your room?" he asked. Kaldur shook his head, his face unnaturally pale.

"She was gone. No phone, no shoes, nothing."

"She'd been kidnapped," Wally finished, and everyone, aside from Silver X, Aqualad, and Kid Flash gasped.

**Coast City Mariner Hotel; Coast City, December 21st, 14:00 PST**

_Nine Months Earlier_

Kaldur

He was freaking out. Reese was  _missing_. And, of course, it  _had_ to be today. The day that Kaldur would finally confess his growing feelings for the girl from Keystone City. Kaldur had never felt feelings this strong for somebody, except for maybe Tula, and that had gone  _so_ well down in Atlantis.

As he and Kid Flash rummaged around through Reese's things, trying to find something,  _anything_ that would point to where she was, Kaldur couldn't help but feel like they were missing something, something important.

"So, you and this Reese girl," Wally said as he went through the closet. "You been seeing each other long?"  
  


"We're not dating," Kaldur answered, sifting through some Keystone High journalism papers. He'd known that Reese had been invited to a writing seminar here, in Coast City, but he hadn't realized just how talented the girl was. Some of these essays were so well-written they were better than most of the ancient texts down in Shayeris. A soft smile curled his lip as Kaldur thought of the impulsive, intelligent, and not to mention intriguing brunette from Keystone.

"What are you smiling about?" KF asked slyly. Kaldur quickly coughed and schooled his face to make it look expressionless.

"Nothing." Wally stood up and stared at him, hands shoved int the pockets of his jeans. They were both dressed in civvies, so as not to raise suspicion as to why Aqualad and Kid Flash were looking through a high school junior's stuff. Wally was dressed in a brown jacket with the collar flipped up, and blue jeans, while Kaldur had on a dark blue jacket with a high collar, to hide his gills and black pants. Wally was also wearing his Kid Flash suit underneath his clothes, and Kaldur had set the pack with his water-bearers on the empty bed.

"Look, Kaldur," Wally began, and Aqualad braced himself for what he knew was coming. "I know you said that you and Reese weren't dating, but-" Kaldur turned around to look out the window, at the Pacific Coast, whose waters glittered in the late December sun.

"I was going to tell her today," he said softly, his shell beginning to crack. "I was going to tell Reese how I felt  _today_ while we were watching a movie in the cave." Kaldur didn't want to turn around, he didn't want to see the sympathy that was surely burning in the speedster's eyes. A hand on his shoulder made Kal tense, but it was just Wally, a small smile on his face.

"Don't worry, Kaldur," he said. "We'll find Reese. She's going to be okay. You both are."

**???; Coast City, December 21st, 14:15 PST**

Reese

EVerything hurt. As consciousness started to return to Reese, she sat up and opened her eyes, but quickly shut them again when she was blinded by a bright light.

"Aah, the Sleeping Beauty wakes," a calm voice sneered. Reese willed her eyes to open again and found herself face-to-face with a man who looked to be about three years older than her, making him around nineteen. 

As she jerked back in her chair, Reese began to noticed things about her surroundings. Hey, she was a journalist andan observer. It was what she did. Just like how she'd noticed something had been off about Kaldur when he'd called earlier. Oh my god,  _Kaldur_. He probably thought she'd stood him up or something.

' _It's not like it was a date, Reese._ ' her inner pessimist said.

' _But, what if it was?_ ' The optimist inside of her countered.

' _Wally was there, how in the world could it have a date?_ '

' _Threesome?_ '

' _God, don't be gross._ '

"-and that is how I'm going to defeat the sidekicks of the world!" The Leech was saying. Reese just looked at him in confusion.

"Sorry, what? I wasn't listening." The Leech looked a little peeved, but nonetheless cleared his throat to begin again.

"Ahem, I am Luke Racer, son of Parasite," he said. "And you will now stay with me forever," he leaned forward and gently brushed his gloved fingers against Reese's cheek as she leaned away in disgust. "As my queen." 

"Like hell, I will," Reese spat out, spittle flying out and splattering onto the Leech's face. "You can't keep me here," she snarled. "I have friends, and they-"

"Oh, are you talking about your Atlantean friend and those _sidekicks_?" Luke asked innocently. Reese's eyes widened in shock. How did he-

"What do you know about them?"

"Enough," he answered, a smug grin on his face, then held up Reese's phone that he somehow suddenly had in his grasp. He shook it as Reese tried to get out of her bonds, but to no avail. "Now, let's give dear Kaldur a call, shall we?"

**Coast City; December 21st, 14:20 PST**

Kaldur

As he stopped outside of a coffee shop, Kal looked down at the phone Reese had given him when they'd first met. It was two years ago, one of Kaldur's first missions as Aqualad, and he'd needed to help stop a shipwreck out in San Francisco Bay. Apparently, some rich land-dwelling couple had rented a yacht for their oldest daughter's fourteenth birthday. But, they'd also done it when California was due to get hit by a massive tropical storm.

The girl had been one of Reese's best friends. Reese had been _on_ that boat when it capsized. And Reese, out of the almost fifty people on that boat, had been the only one to make it out alive. He could still remember that day. That  _night_. The way the rain had drenched anything within seconds of it coming outside. He remembered Reese's face, looking so cold, so  _lifeless_. The way the bay's water had gushed out of her mouth once he'd managed to resuscitate her.

They'd parted ways not long after, but not before Reese had handed him a completely water-tight Wayne Tech smartphone, and told him she wanted to stay in contact with her "Aquatic Knight." The ringing of said cellphone jerked Kaldur out of his reminiscing. Looking down, his eyes almost bulged out of his head when he read the Caller ID.

'Reese'. Quickly sliding the screen Kal held the phone up to his ear.

"Reese? Reese, where are you? Wally and I were-"

"Hello, Aqualad," a cold voice that was definitely  _not_ Reese's came through. Kaldur clenched his jaw in anger.

"Who are you?" he growled. "Why do you have Reese's phone?" The man on the other end tsked in disapproval.

"Sometimes I'm astonished by the naivete of you Atlanteans. You see, I don't just have Reese's  _phone_ , I have the whole package." Reese's voice suddenly took the place of the man's and Kaldur's heart almost stopped.

"Kaldur?

"Reese! Reese, do you know where you are? Any details that stand out to you?

"Uh, well, it's cold, but there's a little bit of light. And it smells sterile, like a hospital or- **KATHWAK**!" The sound of skin-on-skin contact filled Kaldur's mind, and it was all he could do to not jump through the phone and break the man's neck as soon as Kaldur found him.

"Tsk, tsk little Reese. I can't have you giving away all my secrets, now can I?"

"Where. Is.  _She_?" Kaldur growled into the phone, his patience, temper, and self-control waning.

"Go back to Reese's hotel room and look for the pictures. You'll find a clue there. I'll give you two hours. If you don't find us before then, I'll start sending your little girlfriend back in Reese's Pieces, starting with her pretty little head." Kaldur gritted his teeth.

"You. Bastard."  the man just cackled evilly in response.

" _Goodbye_ , Kaldur'ahm." Then, the phone clicked, signaling the end of the call. Kaldur was silent for a moment, before jamming his fist against the brick wall.

"Dammit!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea if Atlantis has cell service, but let's just pretend they do. :)
> 
> -FreedomWhistle


	7. Chapter 6...Or In Which Clayface Attacks(Coast City:Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> CAUTION: BLOOD IN THIS CHAPTER  
> Kaldur and Wally try to find clues as to where Reese is, and they figure out Leech's identity

**Coast City Jitters; Coast City, December 21st, 14:40 PST**

_**Two hours until deadline** _

Kaldur

After the man hung up, Kaldur stood, stricken, in the alleyway between Coast City Jitters and a bowling alley. He had less than two hours to find some sort of clue in order to save Reese and bring her back safely, otherwise, she'd be sent back to him in  _pieces_. Kaldur took out his phone again and called Wally.

"Hey," the speedster said when he answered. "You got something?"

"A ransom," Kaldur said simply. "Go back to the hotel and look in Reese's room for some pictures. The kidnapper said there'd be a clue there." Kaldur couldn't help but notice that his voice was shaking.

"Kal, what's wrong?"

"Now, Wally! We don't have much time." Kaldur shouted, startling a few pedestrians that had been walking by. He sighed heavily before speaking again. " _Please_ , KF.  _She_ doesn't have much time."

"Ok, what do I need to do?"

"Go back to the hotel and look for the pictures. You'll know them when you see them. I'll be there in a few minutes."

xxxxxx- **15:10 PST- 1 hour 30 minutes until deadline**

Kaldur sprinted into the Mariner Hotel like Tiamat himself was after him, and saw Wally standing next to a pair of couches in the lobby, holding a small pile of what he assumed to be the pictures, and a small Petri dish.

As Kaldur sat down, Wally handed him the Petri dish, inside was a small, fat black worm. Kal felt his blood run cold as he flipped through the pictures Reese had taken. They were all grisly photos of multiple skeletons that were sprawled in grotesque positions, the skulls' jaws open in silent screams.

"What was she  _doing_?" Wally asked as Kaldur's eyes widened when he stopped on the last picture. The skeleton was that of a child, the limbs frozen in front of their face as if they'd been shielding themselves from something. Kaldur narrowed his eyes as he caught sight of a figure in the background of the final picture. Dressed in green and black attire, with wild black hair and a red and white African cat mask, it was a person both Aqualad and Kid Flash had met many times before.

"What is  _Cheshire_ doing here?" Wally suddenly burst out, making Kaldur flinch.

"I do not know," he said, picking up the Petri dish next. The fat black worm was ringed, and it writhed inside the glass container, trying to get out. It took Kaldur a moment to recognize what kind of creature it was. "It's a leech," he said quietly. Kaldur turned over the Petri dish to find a yellow post-it note on the bottom.

 **'Aqualad and Kid Flash,'** it read. ' **I see you've found my clue. If you wish to find Reese, riddle me this. If a leech drains the life, what does my father steal?** ' Kaldur narrowed his eyes as he read the note. Why would it matter what the kidnapper's father steals? If the kidnapper was a leech, then-

The bottom of the note was signed ' **SOP** ', and Aqualad felt his gut clench as he started to realize who exactly they were dealing with.

"Who's 'SOP'?" Wally scowled. "Son of a Prick?"

"Son of Parasite," Kaldur growled back. "The Leech can apparently drain the life force from organisms, while Parasite drains abilities. If that's not a family resemblance, I don't know what is."

"What did the clue say again?" Wally asked. Kaldur held up the sticky note on one finger so the speedster could read it.

"'If Leeches drain power, what does Parasite steal?'"

"Power, obviously, but-" Kal's eyes widened as he remembered something Reese had told him before she left.

xxxxxx

_Reese and Kaldur were currently hanging out on an abandoned pier in Keystone, skipping pebbles and watching the sunset. Reese would be leaving for Coast City in a few days for a journalism seminar, and Kaldur had to go back to the team. Reese was telling Aqualad about the different old buildings in Coast City, while he was trying to hit a certain record number for skips._

_"There's also this power plant in Coast that the city's been remodeling for the past couple years, but I don't think they're completely done yet."_

xxxxxx

"The Coast City Power Plant," Kaldur whispered, half to himself. Reese had said where she was being held smelled sterile, like cleaning supplies, and if he remembered correctly, the building and remodeling crews weren't completely done yet. But, just as he and Wally were about to leave, a loud crash outside made both of them jump. Outside, a giant monster made of brown goo was sucking up cars and lobbing them at civilians, as everybody else ran in terror.

"God, what the hell is Clayface doing here?" Wally grumbled. Kaldur quickly shucked off his jacket, revealing his stealth suit underneath. He shouldered his water-bearers and stood up, face cold and still as stone.

"It's a diversion," he said. "The Leech obviously doesn't want us to get to Reese in time, so he sent a Rogue to distract us!"

"Well then, we better deal with Mr.Mud over there quickly, before Reese turns into Reese's Pieces." he took one look at Kaldur's face and winced. "Sorry, not helping?"

"No," Kaldur said firmly, trying not to think about what was at stake. "No, it is not."

**Coast City Power Plant; Coast City, December 21st, 16:35 PST**

_**5 minutes until** **deadline** _

Reese

Luke was tapping his foot impatiently, before screaming in rage and grabbing a nearby chair and throwing it against the wall, where it splintered on impact. Reese jumped from the commotion.

"Ugh, where is he? Clayface should've been defeated by now!" Reese's head snapped up.

"What do you mean 'Clayface should've been defeated by now'? What did you do?" She tried to throw herself at the Leech, but the ropes binding her to the chair pulled her up short. Luke just cackled in response, his laughter eerily similar to the Joker's.

"Aw, worried about your  _boyfriend_ , are you?"

"He's  _not_ my boyfriend."

"But, you love him, don't you?" Reese stayed silent, but that was apparently all the answer Luke needed.

"Hah! You  _do_? Don't you know dating a superhero will always end in a disaster?" Reese just glared at him.

"I don't need love advice from someone who  _kidnapped_ me." For a moment, rage flashed in the Leech's eyes, but it quickly disappeared. He leaned forward, and Reese leaned back as far as she could.

"Ooh, feisty. I  _like_ feisty." Suddenly, a timer went off, and Luke clapped his hands in glee, making Reese recoil in disgust. "Yay! Time's up!" He then took out an intricately carved katana that had been sitting sheathed on a table nearby. Roughly untying the nylon rope that had bound Reese to her chair, he yanked her up by her wrists and brought her face close to his.

"Looks like loverboy's too late. Now, you're all mine." Reese clenched her eyes shut and cried out in pain as the Leech began to carve a cursive letter into her side.

' _Please, Kaldur._ ' she thought desperately as blood began to trickle down her abdomen. ' _Hurry._ '

Kaldur

Aqualad flinched as Kid Flash was thrown into a nearby wall. The bricks crumbled under his weight, and Kaldur heard Clayface giggle in manic glee. They'd slowly been leading Clayface away from civilians and where there would be collateral damage, and  _towards_ the power plant where Reese was being held. It was at this moment that Kaldur caught sight of the 'Coast City Courier' building, where the time and current announcements were slowly scrolling along a black TV screen.

'Clayface attacks downtown. Aqualad and Kid Flash on the scene. 16:40 PST.' Kaldur felt both his blood and body freeze as he watched the time scroll by as if it didn't have a care in the world. He was too late. Two hours had passed, and he hadn't rescued Reese yet. She was now as good as dead. Kal felt his knees lock before Clayface slammed a muddy fist into his side, and he went flying. He crashed through a window and crumpled to the floor. Kaldur heard a feminine whimper as he sat up, groaning, and his head snapped up. He knew that voice. It was Reese. She was still alive.

"Stop it," she was whimpering. "Stop it, please." The evil, silken voice that belonged to the Leech and Reese's kidnapper spoke with a barely contained smirk.

"Now, now, little Reese. How can we have any fun when you're squirming?" Kaldur's blood boiled as he thought of what the Leech, this,  _Luke_ could be doing to Reese right now.

"I'm  _not_ little, Leech. Not when I'm six inches taller than you are." Reese countered, her familiar voice dripping with venom. Kaldur chuckled to himself as he quickly unsheathed his water-bearers and stalked slowly towards the voices.  _There_ was the Reese he knew and loved.

"Don't use that tone of voice with me, young lady. You know, I never got what it is between superheroes and reporters. I mean, there's Superman and that Lois Lane from Metropolis, and now you and the Atlantean." Not wanting to hear anymore, Kaldur let the water from his weapons gently snake along the floor until they wrapped securely around Luke's ankles. With a sharp yank, he tugged on the handles, and the Leech fell hard face-first to the floor, his nose shattering on impact.

"Aah. You must be the famous Kaldur'ahm. I must say, a pleasure to meet you." Kaldur grabbed the man's arms, relishing in the way his enhanced strength made Luke's bones crack.

"I'd say the same about you, but then I'd be lying," he said coldly, before throwing the Leech to the side. Luke crashed into an abandoned control module, the metal surface crumpling from the force of Kaldur's blow. Surprisingly, he jumped up just as fast and ran a hand over his face, his fingers coming away red with blood, and with a speed, Kaldur didn't expect, he ran at the Atlantean, taking off one of his gloves in the process.

"Don't let him touch you, Kaldur!" Reese cried. "He'll drain your life force."

"I know," Kaldur told her. "I saw the photographs." He dodged one of Luke's blows and the Leech's hand instead landed on a crate that promptly disintegrated. Kaldur took one of his water-bearers and swiped it underneath Luke's feet, making the Son of Parasite fall to the floor. Luke's right hand hit the stone, and Kaldur watched in shock as the rock turned green with age, then started crumbling around him.

The building shook, and Aqualad looked up to see one of the wooden support beams falling towards him. He jumped out of the way and rolled to a stop near Reese's feet. Kaldur's hand fell in something wet, and he looked down to find his left hand practically swimming in a puddle of dark red blood. His eyes slowly rose to meet Reese's. Her dark brown eyes were half closed, and the bottom half of her creme sweater was soaked in red.

Kaldur slowly lifted up the hem of Reese's sweater and gasped as he saw the terrible wound inflicted upon her abdomen. His blood boiled as he gently traced his fingers down and across the cursive 'L' that had been carved into Reese's pristine skin. The ground shook again, and Kaldur realized that the power plant was about to collapse. He gently looped his arm around Reese's waist and led her out into the late December evening, just as the whole building shuddered, before the power plant imploded, the entire building collapsing into itself. As soon as they were outside, Kaldur wrapped his arms around Reese and held her close.

"I am so happy that you're okay," he whispered, burying his face in the crook of her neck. Reese gently brought her hands up and lightly ran her fingers over his skin, making Kaldur shiver.

"I knew you would rescue me," she said softly. "My Aquatic Knight." she tilted her face towards his, and Kaldur couldn't help but think that this would be the perfect time to kiss her.

' _Go on, you jumpy guppy._ ' a voice inside his head said. ' _You won't know if she loves you back or not until you kiss her._ '

' _No,_ ' Kaldur thought in agreement. ' _I won't._ '

"We need to get you to a hospital," he said finally after he was done arguing with himself. "I don't want that wound getting infected." Reese nodded, wincing, as Aqualad activated his comm.

"Aqualad to Kid Flash. I have Reese, and I'm taking her to a hospital. You can head back to Mount Justice, I'll be there in a little bit."

"Roger that, Dry-Gills. Hope you and your girlfriend have a  _wonderful_ time at the doctor's office, just remember to keep it PG, there will be children present, after all." Kaldur groaned.

"Yes, Kid, I am aware of that. And, you don't have to worry, because nothing will happen. Just, say 'hello' to the rest of the Team for me when they get back from Europe, will you?" Kaldur could practically hear Wally's smugness.

"And where will  _you_ be?" Kaldur sighed again before glancing at Reese out of the corner of his eye. She looked tired, and in need of a good meal.

"I'll be spending the holidays with Reese and her family, back in Keystone." he braced himself for the excited shout, and he was not disappointed.

" _Yes!_ Well, you don't have to worry, dear leader. You spend time with your girl, and I'll deal with the rest of the Team. Wall-man out."

"No! KF, wait!" Kaldur cried as he heard the click that meant Wally had hung up. "and, he's gone." He turned to see Reese staring at him, a faint blush gracing her cheeks.

"What?" he asked her before she gave Kaldur a smile that made his heart skip a beat. Bumping his shoulder with hers, she laughed.

"You're lucky my parents already bought your Christmas presents."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After this, there will be infrequent updates depending on whenever I finish a chapter.
> 
> Next up, back to Present Day...the Team gets a surprising new member, and KF and Nightwing go through some security footage.


	8. Chapter 7...Or In Which Dick Forgets His Lockpicks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reese shows the Team her scar, Batman gets a new protege, Nightwing gets trussed up, Reese and Kaldur have to explain some things, and Aqualad changes.

**Mount Justice; August 16th, 03:00 EST**

_Present Day_

Reese

"So what I'm interpreting from this whole maniacal situation," Artemis said as they all walked into the cave. "You were in Coast City, you met up with my sister, got kidnapped by the deranged son of Parasite, Kaldur loses his marbles, Kid Flash and Aqualad fight Clayface, Kaldur breaks Luke's nose, then you and Kal spend Christmas together?" Reese exchanged a glance with Kaldur, who just raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I _guess_ that's what happened," she said. M'gann looked at Reese a little sheepishly before speaking.

"Could we see the scar?" she asked. Reese blinked at her for a moment before her brain processed what had been said.

"You, You want to see my scar?" Miss Martian nodded.

"If that's okay with you?" Reese nodded slowly, before grasping the hidden zipper on the front of her costume and slowly, painstakingly, unzipped her suit halfway. Reese was suddenly  _really_ glad she'd elected to wear a sports tank underneath her suit. She lifted up the hem of her tank top so the rest of the Team, her friends, her (boyfriend?), could see her cursive scar in full view. The wound itself had long since healed, but the  _scar_ itself now stood stark white against Reese's tan skin.

"Wow," Conner said quietly. "If you'd gotten it under different circumstances, that would be pretty cool." Reese felt her face flush with the compliment.

"Thanks," she said. "I've never thought of it as 'cool' before."

**Recognized Batman 02, Black Canary 13**

"Well," Robin huffed crossly. "Let's go see the Big Bad Bat. This should be fun." He then stalked out of the locker room before anyone else knew what was happening.

"What's up with the Bird?" Artemis asked. Reese just shrugged.

"I noticed he was a little moody when we left for CADMUS." Wally looked inquisitive.

"He and Batman were a little tense in Metropolis, but that could've just been the current situation."

"Let's not dwell on that now," Kaldur said as he started walking towards the cave. "Batman may have a mission for us." But, it wasn't a mission for the Team. Not even close. When everyone else got to the cave, they stopped dead. Because, there, standing next to Batman, were  _two_ Robins. One was Dick Grayson, the one who was familiar and whom they all knew. The other though, was smaller, with two cowlicks of black hair.

"Team, meet Robin," Batman said, and Reese's eyes almost bugged out of her head. The kid couldn't be more than ten, and he  _looked_ young too. Reese was about to say something, but Wally beat her to it.

"Uh, did you forget that you already  _have_ a Robin?" he said, gesturing wildly towards where Dick was standing next to Zatanna, looking a little peeved. And why shouldn't he? The kid was basically getting replaced. The smaller kid then bounced up to Reese and shook her hand excitedly, much to the Team's surprise.

"Hi! I'm Jason, Jason Todd!"

Kaldur

The "New Robin" was,  _energetic_ , to say the least. Jason was almost literally bouncing off the walls in his excitement to be at the cave, and Kaldur didn't think even Kid Flash could've kept up with him. As Jason dragged Reese off to the training room to show her some acrobatics, Kaldur turned to the two Leaguers standing in front of them.

"Batman, when did you decide to take on another protege? Is there something the matter with your original ward?" Dick, from where he was standing at Zatanna's side, took a deep breath.

"I've-" A high-pitched scream suddenly tore through the cave, and Jason came running into the cave, a look of pure terror etched onto his young face.

"Robin!" Black Canary cried. "What's wrong?" It took Jason a few moments to catch his breath, then another few for him to string his words together. During all of this, the Team, Batman, and Black Canary waited in bated silence, and Kaldur couldn't help but wonder where Reese was.

"There'sagiantcatthatistryingtoeatme!" Jason finally cried, his words coming out so fast, not even Wally could catch what he said. "Asilvertigeristryingtoeatme!" Kaldur set his hands firmly on the boy's shoulders.

"Jason,  _breathe_. Then, talk  _slowly_." The child took a deep, shuddering breath before clearing his throat.

"Okay. Reese, uh, Silver X and I were in the training room where I was showing her this cool acrobatics move I learned, but when I turned back around, Reese was gone and in her place was this giant silver  _tiger_. Oh my gosh! It must have eaten her! And now it wants  _me_ for dessert." Kaldur heard a snort from behind him and turned to see Wally covering his mouth with a hand, silently shaking with laughter. To be honest, Kaldur himself found it quite amusing. A silken growl reached Kaldur's ears, and the Atlantean smirked.

"[I wasn't  _really_ going to eat him.]" Kaldur turned and saw Reese, in her tiger-form, slowly stalk into the cave, silver and black tail swinging languidly.

"[Wouldn't you?]" Kaldur asked smugly, and for a moment, Reese's eyes flashed silver, before settling back on their normal chocolate brown. Reese trotted over to where Kaldur and Jason were standing, well, where Kaldur was standing. Jason had currently gone to hide behind Dick and Zatanna. Reese sat down next to Kaldur, with her tiger's head reaching past his waist. After wrapping her fluffy tail neatly around her paws, Reese glared at him.

"[Don't push your luck, Kaldur'ahm.]" Aqualad just smirked in response.

"[With you, I'll push my luck any time I want.]" Reese looked like she was about to retort, but Wally cut her off.

"When you two are done with your weird animal-communication thingy,  _some_ of us would actually like to know what the hell's going on here!" 

"[Ugh,  _fine_.]" Reese grumbled before she quickly shifted back to human, making Jason jump in shock. Reese threw her hands up in frustration and glared hard at the speedster in front of her.

"There! I'm human again! Happy?" Wally nodded.

"Very."

"Wait,  _you're_ the silver tiger that ate Reese in the training room?" Jason burst out, eyes wide. Reese grinned at him and shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, I couldn't exactly eat myself, now could I?"

"You  _could_ , but-" Kaldur held up a hand, trying not to grimace.

"Not now, KF." The sudden clearing of a throat quickly reminded the Team that they weren't the only ones in the cave. Kaldur turned to see Batman and Black Canary standing by the holo-computers, the former with a small scowl, the latter with the complete opposite.

"Dick Grayson has decided to give up the mantle of Robin," The Dark Knight spoke, to the shock of almost everybody. Wally recovered first, and he broke the stunned silence with an angry shout.

"What do you mean? Dick can't just stop being a superhero! It's a part of who he is!" Kaldur saw the first Robin hurriedly wave his hands if only to comfort the raging speedster.

"Don't worry, KF," The former Boy Wonder assured him. "I won't stop being a hero,  _or_ a part of this team. I'm just changing the hero that I am. I'll be a  _Nightwing_ if you will"

**Mount Justice; August 20th, 19:30 EST**

Reese

**Recognized Kid Flash B03, Silver X B10**

Reese and Wally walked out of the Zeta tube after they were done helping with the Freshman Orientation at Keystone High. Their first day of school started in two days, and the principal had wanted everything to be perfect for the new influx of students. When the two heroes walked into the cave, they were greeted with an  _extremely_ strange sight. Robin, well, Nightwing now, was trussed up with a pair of old metal handcuffs against the cave's wall and looking  _really_ pissed.

"Dude!" Wally cried, quickly running over to unlock Dick. "What happened?" Dick scowled as Reese walked up.

"Jason happened. I swear that kid is like a speedster without speed with how much energy he has."

"Where's Robin now?" Reese asked. It had been four days since Jason, or Robin had joined the Team, and it had been a hectic experience. Nightwing shrugged in response to her question.

"He ran off after he handcuffed me to the wall." Reese raised an eyebrow at that. Usually, the Bat's former protege was more prepared than that.

"What about your lockpick set?" she asked. The fifteen-year-old in front of her scowled again, the white lenses of his domino mask narrowing dangerously. He mumbled something under his breath that Reese didn't catch. She cupped a hand to her ear and leaned closer.

"Sorry. What was that? I couldn't hear you."

"I left my lockpicks at home, okay? Is that what you wanted to hear?" Reese stood up, a smug grin dancing across her face.

"Yes. Thank you, dear Grayson. Now, what do you want us to do?" At that moment, the Zeta tube went online again.

**Recognized Aqualad B02**

Despite herself, Reese blushed. She and Kaldur hadn't talked much since CADMUS, and she couldn't help but wonder where they stood, relationship-wise anyway.

"What's going on?" Kaldur asked as he walked up. Kid Flash smirked at Nightwing, who just grumbled and crossed his arms in response.

"The little Bird tied up the Big Bird like a Christmas goose, then flew the coop." Reese saw that Aqualad looked a little confused, so she translated.

"What KF  _means_ , is that Robin handcuffed Nightwing to the wall, and he couldn't get free because Grayson over here left his lockpicks in Gotham, and now Robin is running willy-nilly all over Mount Justice."

"Do you want us to find him?" Kaldur asked Dick as the latter rubbed his wrists to get rid of the tension from being locked up for who knows how long. Nightwing nodded.

"Yes, thank you. Aqualad, you and Silver can take the north end, and KF, you take the south." The three other heroes nodded before splitting up. Reese turned into her silver tiger and began to slowly stalk the hallways, hunting down a little bird.

" _So_ ," Kaldur said as they rounded a corner. "Anything new going on?" One thing Reese hadn't taught Kaldur was the art of subtlety. Pop culture? Sure. Being subtle?  _Not_ so much. She was about to answer when she heard a noise. Coming from a hallway to their left, Silver started to hear a consistent tapping noise, coming closer. Footsteps.

"[Stop talking.]" She growled quickly. Kaldur stared at her, affronted.

"[Excuse me?]" He growled back. "[Reese, we need to talk-] mmph!" Reese slapped her tail over his mouth cutting him off.

"[No,]" she rumbled. "[I'm serious. Stop talking, I think I heard something.]" She left Kaldur's side and slowly stalked down the corridor, where the sound was coming from, Aqualad following close behind. As Silver peeked her head around the corner, a small body suddenly bowled her over, making them both roll until Reese thudded into the wall on the far side, stunned. In the back of her mind, Silver heard Aqualad call her name, but Reese was too disoriented to process it. As awareness started to return to her, the first thing Reese noticed was a cool, webbed hand running down her spine, ruffing the silver and black fur.

"[Kaldur?]" Reese asked wearily. The Atlantean gave her a small smile. Reese shifted back to normal and sat up, rubbing her head. It still ached a bit, but overall she was fine. Reese turned to see Jason sitting a few feet away, rubbing his head as well. The kid was looking more sheepish and exhausted than Reese had ever seen him. When Jason noticed Reese staring at him, the child broke down into tears. Reese disentangled herself from Kaldur and crawled over to comfort him.

"Shh, Shh," she whispered to him. "Jason,  _Robin_ , it's okay. You're okay." Robin looked up and Reese saw that there were tear streaks underneath Jason's domino mask.

"I-I hurt you," he whimpered. "I didn't mean to. I didn't see you in the hallway, and I was running so fast and-" he stopped when Reese set her hand on his shoulder.

"Jason.  _Breathe_. You didn't hurt me. See? I'm perfectly fine." She gestured to herself to show that the new Robin hadn't truly injured her.

"Jason," Reese asked suddenly. "How old are you?" The young Boy Wonder hung his head.

"I'm nine," he said softly, still not meeting Reese's eyes. "Bru-uh, Batman said that was the age when Nightwing started, so..." As he trailed off, Reese and Kaldur glanced at each other over Jason's shoulder. Was Batman making it a habit of his to take in kids off the streets and turn them into his birds? Who knows, maybe it would turn out that Bruce Wayne had an  _actual_ son, that he didn't know about, and the kid would be some sort of demon spawn or something. Before Reese and Kaldur could say anything though, Nightwing's voice echoed throughout Mount Justice.

"Team! Cave! Now! Aqualad and Silver X, you two have some  _serious_ explaining to do." When Reese, Kaldur, and Robin walked into the cave, the former two stopped dead in their tracks.

"Dammit," Reese hissed. Because there, on the holo-computer screens, was security footage. From CADMUS.

Wally

Kid Flash sped through the entire south end of Mount Justice in all of thirty seconds, so for the past ten minutes, Wally had been helping Nightwing go through the security footage from the Team's excursion at CADMUS. He saw him and Artemis slinking through a back alley to get inside the lab, Reese and Kaldur's weird half-wolf argument on the roof with Red Arrow, Silver and Aqualad's skirmish with Selina Kyle, the shape-shifter and Atlantean making out in a hallway,- _wait_.

"Go back to that last one?" Wally asked Dick quietly, silently smirking. If this what he thought it was... and it was. The lenses of Nightwing's domino mask widened comically as he and Wally watched the scene in front of them with rapt attention.

They saw Reese freeze, then spin around and practically slam Aqualad into the wall, forearm pressed between his clavicle and sternum. Wally snorted at the startled look on Kaldur's face. Both Dick  _and_ Wally's mouths dropped open when they saw Kaldur flip so Silver was in his place. What happened next was an epic make-out session that had Wally rolling on the floor, he was laughing so hard.

"Team! Cave! Now!" Nightwing barked into the intercom, his voice echoing in the cave  _and_ Mount Justice. "Aqualad and Silver X, you two have some  _serious_ explaining to do." The looks on Reese and Kaldur's faces when they ran into the cave and saw the holo-screens was enough to make Wally's gut hurt with how much he was laughing. Nightwing gestured to the screen behind him.

"Care to explain this?" Dick asked. The way both Reese  _and_ Kaldur flushed bright red was enough to send Wally over the edge again, making him wheeze with the loss of breath from laughter. A sudden 400-pound force knocked Wally to the ground, and he looked up into the silver eyes of Reese's tiger, a low growl rumbling in her throat. Wally was getting a serious sense of deja vu. He needed to stop pissing off Reese when more than half of the animals that she could turn into were ones that could eat him.

Kaldur suddenly growled something, and Reese's head turned from Wally's to the Atlantean's. She growled something back, but obviously, Wally couldn't understand what the two were saying. He didn't know what had happened to make Kaldur able to communicate with Reese while she was in animal form, but right now, Kid Flash wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know what they were saying to each other. Silver X's tiger tail started swishing along the cave floor, her eyes starting to glow. Now, that was new.

Wally saw Kaldur's eyes widen, and he realized that their leader had never seen Reese this angry either. The tiger standing on top of Wally was no longer Reese,  _this_ was Silver X. Reese's primal nature, the true form of her animals. Kaldur growled again, and Silver X stepped off of Kid Flash slowly, leaving the speedster gasping on the floor. Wally was pretty sure Reese had broken some of his ribs, but his super-healing was already knitting them back together. He'd be better in maybe half an hour.

Kaldur and Silver were now facing off, the latter snarling, her eyes still glowing a mesmerizing silver. Suddenly, Reese roared, making everyone but Kaldur cover their ears from the sheer force of the sound wave. Now, Wally was someone who knew that Siberian tigers couldn't roar, not like a lion anyway. But, Reese's roar, if Wally could calculate it, was over 130 decibels, almost _twice_ as loud as a lion's roar. Wally gingerly put two fingers against his ear, winced, and his eyes widened when his fingers came away red with blood. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Wally saw Kaldur's eyes flash, and before he knew it, Kaldur was  _changing_. Wally's mouth dropped open as he saw the Atlantean shrink in front of him before in Kaldur's place stood  _another_ Siberian tiger, only this one's colors were the opposite of Reese's. Instead of silver fur and black stripes, Kaldur's fur was a midnight black, with the silver stripes glinting in the cave's low lighting. The two tigers circled each other for a moment, before they both froze.

Then, they leaped. Straight at each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like to think that Jason was pure and innocent(A speedster without speed) before the Lazarus Pit, and no one can tell me otherwise.  
> Also, tell me if you liked the Damian reference.
> 
> I'm also writing this chapter while I'm on vacation sooo...


	9. Chapter 8...Or In Which Secrets Are Kept

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aqualad becomes a tiger, the Team finds out what's up with Reese's transformations, Reese and Wally start school, and the Leech returns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has a sensitive subject matter in it, so if you are uncomfortable with school shooting threats, skip the second to last paragraph
> 
> Just a warning
> 
> -FreedomWhistle

**Mount Justice; August 16th, 20:00 EST**

Kaldur

He had no idea what was going on. One moment, he'd been human, well, Atlantean, and now he was a massive black tiger, twelve feet long, with silver stripes that shimmered in the cave's low lighting. As he and Reese thudded into each other in mid-air, Kaldur couldn't help but wonder what had made Reese attack Wally as she had.

True, what he'd said had been completely out of line, but that didn't mean Kaldur could just let Reese  _kill_ him.

"[Reese!]" Kaldur roared as they both landed on their feet. "[You have to stop! Yes, what Kid Flash did was uncalled for, but that doesn't give you the justice, or the right, to silence him!]" Reese, whose tiger eyes had been a glowing silver up until this point, suddenly shook her head, her eyes dimming to brown.

She looked towards Wally, who was still laying on the stone floor, waiting for his bones to heal.

Then, to Nightwing and Robin, where Dick had wrapped his arms around his younger brother to shield him from Reese's tiger-cry. Jason had fresh tear-streaks under his mask, and he stared at Reese, shivering in fear. Reese's eyes widened, and Kaldur saw her begin to back away.

'[I-I hurt them.]" she whimpered softly. Reese looked back towards Kaldur, who'd silently willed his fur to stop bristling, and had sat down in front of the silver tiger.

"[It wasn't your fault, Reese,]" Kaldur reassured her, knowing in his gut that it was true. "[Silver X, that damned chemical, it took control. Brought out your primal nature.] It wasn't _you_ ángelos." Kaldur quickly shifted back to his Atlantean form at the same time Reese turned human, and he silently laid his hands against her face.

Leaning their foreheads together, Kaldur gently wiped away the two tears on Reese's face with his thumbs. Reese took a deep, shuddering breath before she spoke.

"I'm  _so_ sorry," she whispered in the general direction of Nightwing, Robin, and Kid Flash. The speedster had since sat up, gingerly rubbing his side. Jason carefully stood up and walked over to where Kaldur and Reese were kneeling on the cold floor. The nine-year-old sat down in front of Reese and Kaldur, then, to Aqualad  _and_ Nightwing's shock, took off his mask.

"Robin!" Dick cried out. "What do you think you're doing?" When Robin brought his hands down, there was only Jason Todd staring back at them, brown eyes shining with unshed tears. "Reese, you didn't hurt us. You as a tiger was, a  _bit_ freaky when the Silver X was the one in control, but you didn't hurt us. I promise."

"I'm starting to think that these unplanned transformations of Reese's coincide with her emotions," Nightwing mused as he supported Wally when they stood up. Kaldur looked at him quizzically.

"How so?" he asked. Once Wally was steady on his feet, Nightwing pulled up what looked like a brain scan.

"When'd you give me an MRI?" Reese asked. Nightwing shrugged.

"When you were in your coma. Now," Nightwing continued, cutting off Reese's retort. "When Reese first woke up, she turned into a wolf, correct?" Three confirmed nods. "Then, my research might actually make sense. The amygdala is the part of the brain that deals with emotional responses." He gestured to a part of the scan that vaguely reminded Kaldur of an almond.

"So, something is wrong with Reese's Ami-amyg-" Jason tried to sound out the word but was having trouble.

"Amygdala?" Kaldur supplied. Jason nodded.

"Yeah, that." Nightwing shook his head, much to Kaldur's relief.

"Nothing's wrong with her brain as a  _whole_ , but-" Reese's voice cut him off

"Something's up with my amygdala." She phrased it as a statement, not a question, and Kaldur was once again astounded by the sheer amount of fearlessness that Reese possessed. The only times she really broke down was when the people she loved or cared about were in danger.

"Not 'wrong', overstimulated," Nightwing's voice jerked Kaldur out of his thoughts. "For some reason, whenever Reese encounters Kid Flash, her subconscious brings forth some sort of bad memory from Reese's hippocampus, her memory core, then the rest of her brain sends out a dose of cortisol, a stress hormone, to the rest of Reese's limbic system, kick-starting the Silver X and making her shift into one of her animals, also over-exaggerating their reaction,"

"So there's no way to tell what animal Silver's gonna turn into?" Robin asked. Nightwing shook his head.

"No, we've been lucky so far. It's a good thing Reese hasn't turned into one of her birds. With a peregrine falcon or snowy owl on the loose, we might never catch her,"

"So what do you expect us to  _do_?" Kaldur asked. "How does Reese begin to control her transformations?"

"Wally doesn't piss her off, for starters," Nightwing answered. Everyone looked towards the ginger-haired speedster, who just glared at them in response. " _But_ , I think that's a given," Dick continued. "KF manages to do that to everyone."

"Ha, ha, very funny," Wally grumbled. " _So_ , are we not even going to, like, touch on the fact that _Aqualad_ can now turn into animals  _as well_?" Kaldur and Reese glanced at each other. To be honest, Kaldur hadn't actually thought of that. It must have happened at the museum, that was the only time both him  _and_ Reese were exposed to the Silver X. Maybe when they kissed? If some of the chemicals accidentally transferred from Reese's mouth into his, it would explain the communication.

Then, when the bomb exploded, some more of the Silver X must have been absorbed into his skin. Atlanteans  _were_ toxin-resistant, but the Silver X wasn't necessarily a toxin, per say. Just a chemical made by CADMUS to make someone able to shape-shift. That must have been where it happened. Kaldur opened his mouth to say so, but before he could, the Zeta tube came online.

**Recognized Artemis B07, Zatanna B08, Superboy B04, Miss Martian B05**

"We will  _not_ speak of this to the rest of the Team. The five of us will meet here at the cave after Reese and Wally are done with school on Monday. This secret stays between Aqualad, Kid Flash, Silver X, Nightwing, and Robin, understood?" The rest of them nodded, with Jason quickly putting his mask back on, to still have some sort of mystery to his identity, Kaldur guessed.

"Agreed." Miss Martian floated over perkily, practically radiating glee.

"I take the reconnaissance was a success?" Kaldur asked, showing no further evidence from the events of earlier. Artemis nodded, going to stand by Wally, who was still slightly favoring his right side, lightly running his fingers down the side of his jacket.

"Yeah, we watched Kobra and his goons for a few hours, and we saw him talking to Lex Luthor, so that  _has_ to mean something. Wally, are you alright?" she suddenly asked the speedster, who was now holding his ribs and grimacing. Robin, Nightwing, Silver X, Aqualad,  _and_ Kid Flash all froze. Wally's face paled, and he stared at Kaldur and Reese, who stared right back at him with wide eyes.

"I-uh, fell down, playing tag?" Artemis raised an eyebrow, and Kaldur mentally face-palmed. Everyone knew that Wally couldn't lie to his girlfriend. Artemis would be able to spot one of the speedster's lies a mile away.

"Tag?" she asked incredulously. Kaldur saw Wally begin to crack and knew that the speedster was going to tell Artemis everything when Reese suddenly spoke.

"Yeah! A  _huge_ game of tag, throughout the entire mountain. Hide-and-seek tag. I was chasing Robin, and then accidentally tripped KF. He fell, slammed into something, and I think he broke something."

" _You_ accidentally tripped a  _speedster_?" the blonde archer sounded skeptical, and Kaldur prayed to Poseidon that Reese's exceptional lying skills would pay off. Finally, Artemis seemed to relent, and her shoulders relaxed, while Kaldur, Reese, and Wally each heaved a sigh of relief. "Fine. Baywatch, you better go to a hospital and get that checked out. I know you have super-healing and all that jazz, but I don't want it to get infected. You and Reese start school on Monday, and I don't want you getting sick." Wally scowled.

"Okay,  _Mom_ ," he said. Kaldur heard Reese snort from his side. M'gann suddenly clapped, making everyone jump.

"Ugh, Hello Megan! I totally forgot I was going to make some cookies to celebrate Reese and Wally going back to school. I'll go put them in the oven now," As everyone else followed Miss Martian into the kitchen, Kaldur and Reese held back. Kaldur barely had a chance to process things before a hand wrapped itself around the back of his neck and tugged his head down. Reese kissed him quickly but passionately, before pulling away and following Dick and Jason into the living room.

"Sly minx," Kaldur smirked before following her. To their team. To their friends.

**Keystone High; August 22nd, 10:45 CST**

Reese

When Reese walked into the front office of Keystone High on Monday morning, she didn't know what she'd been expecting. The principal had called her in to welcome a new student, claiming they had asked for her by name. Was it someone she had met online? Cheerleading, maybe? As she lightly tapped on the office door, so many thoughts were running through Reese's mind that she didn't notice the figure standing in the doorway until she quite literally ran into them.

"Why hello, little Reese. If I had known you wanted me so badly, I would've dressed for the occasion." That voice. No, it  _couldn't_ be. He should've died when the power plant collapsed, that plot of land had been completely leveled from the force of his own attack. But, it was. When Reese tilted her head up, she found herself face-to-face with Luke Racer. The Leech, he was here. In Keystone. This was bad. This was  _really_ bad.

"Miss Michaels? Reese, are you alright?" the assistant principal's voice jerked Reese out of her thoughts.

"What? Oh, yeah I'm fine. Is this the new kid? He startled me." The assistant principal nodded, her red hair falling over her shoulders.

"Yes, this is Lucas Sprinter, a transfer from Coast City," Ah, the Leech was using an alias then. If Reese could get to her locker, then she could find her commlink and call Kaldur. Again, Miss Jenkin's voice alerted Reese to the situation at hand.

"If you could show Mr.Sprinter here to your AP Chemistry class, it would make him feel most welcome." AP Chemistry. A class that combined the junior and senior classes.  _Wally_ was in that class.

"Yes!" Reese cried, louder than she meant to. " I mean,  _yes_ , I will take Mr. _Sprinter_ to the AP class. I  _know_ he'll feel welcome there." She then grabbed Luke, albeit reluctantly, and dragged him out of the office.

"My, my little Reese. Getting handsy, I see." Reese abruptly dropped Luke's arm in disgust. She spun around and jabbed a finger at his chest.

"What are you doing here?" she growled at him, desperately trying to keep her emotions in check. The last thing she needed was to turn into a wolf or tiger on her first day of school. "You're supposed to be dead." The Leech smirked, and the expression made Reese shudder. Nine months later, and her experience in Coast City was  _still_ seared into her brain.

"Now, little Reese, think back to our adventures in Coast City. Was there ever another body found in the wreckage of the power plant?" he asked, still smirking. Reese sighed, still quite peeved.

"No." Luke nodded.

"Quite right. There was nobody, so how could I have died?" Reese just gave him a death-glare in response. Suddenly, a cold, clammy hand clamped down on her wrist, and Reese felt her body begin to shut down. She looked down to find Luke's hand wrapped tightly around her wrist, slowly draining the life force from her body. As Reese staggered to the door of the AP Chemistry room, she caught sight of a familiar red-head sitting near the door. Hopefully, she made it out of this alive. Time, to alert a speedster.

Wally

As Wally sat down in his Advanced Placement science class, he couldn't help but hope that nothing went wrong. Since Reese was in many of his classes, as they were both put into AP courses, Nightwing had whipped up a sort of serum that would hopefully suppress Reese's were-shifts, as Jason had started to call them.

"Now, I know that most of you know each other, but today we have a transfer student joining us," Mr.Reynolds, the teacher, started, and Wally noticed that Reese wasn't in class. "Miss Michaels, our student body president, is escorting a special transfer student from Coast City. His name is Lucas Spinter, and-" Reynolds kept talking, but Wally zoned out to process what he'd just said. Coast City. Lucas Sprinter. To be honest, it kind of sounded like Luke... _Racer_...damn. The sound of the door opening snapped Wally back to the present. 

He turned in his chair to see Reese and the Leech walk into the classroom, the latter looking unnaturally pale, while the former's bare hand was wrapped tightly around Reese's wrist. Wait.  _Bare_ fingers? Sure enough, Luke had taken off one of his gloves and was now essentially holding Reese hostage, while slowly draining her life force. Wally opened his mouth to say something, but Luke wagged a finger at him.

"Now, now Flashboy," he hissed. "Leave the dramatics to me."  He then pulled out a gun and held it to Reese's temple, startling everyone.

"Evacuate the school," Luke growled. When nobody moved, he started shouting. "I said, evacuate. The. School!" That got people to move. As Wally passed by the Leech, the villain sneered at him.

"Call who you will, KF. He won't save her in time. See? She's practically dead on her feet already." At that moment, Reese's eyes rolled back into her head, and she fell to the floor, unconscious, her skin turning a sickly, papery gray. Wally struggled to keep his temper in check as the Leech giggle maniacally. "Oops! Did I do that? Looks like the Atlantean's princess doesn't have much time. Better hurry," Wally wasn't going to waste any more time. He zipped outside and stood a ways away from everybody else, where he called Kaldur.

"Hello, Wally," the Atlantean spoke. "Aren't you and Reese supposed to be in-" Wally cut him off.

"The Leech is here, Kaldur," The growl that came through the phone was enough to make Wally shudder.

" _What_?" Wally's next words came out of his mouth in a rush.

"He was under the alias Lucas Sprinter, and he knew that Reese was here. Luke  _knew_ that Reese lived in Keystone. He took her hostage and Kaldur?"

"Yes?"

"He's  _killing_ her."


	10. Chapter 9...Or In Which Wally Has A Death-Wish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Silver X fights the Leech, the world finds out about Reese and Kaldur, Aqualad almost transforms, and they find out more about their were-shifting.

**Keystone High; August 22nd, 11:00 CST**

Wally

The steady drone of the dial tone told Wally that Aqualad had already hung up. A nearby Zeta Tube turned on and Wally knew without a doubt who it would be. Aqualad stalked out of the transporter, his face poorly masking his rage and terror. Knowing the connection between Aquaman's protege and their classmate, the other students parted like the Red Sea, leaving a clear path from Kaldur to Wally.

"Where. Is.  _She_?" Kaldur growled and despite himself, Wally shuddered. He'd  _never_ seen Aqualad this angry.  _Ever_.

"Uh, Room 1318. AP Chemistry," Kaldur started to walk away but stopped and turned back around.

"Grab your suit," he hissed so only Wally could hear. "We might need Kid Flash on this one." Then he was gone, using his water-bearers to propel himself up to a second-floor window. Wally was just hoping that Kaldur  _got_ to Reese in time because he didn't know how long the shape-shifter had left. He couldn't help but almost feel sorry for Luke.  _Nobody_ messed with Reese when Kaldur was around. He almost felt sorry. Almost.

Kaldur

It was too much like the last time. The kidnapping, the time limit,  _everything_. Kaldur didn't know what he would do if he didn't get to Reese in time. He didn't know what he would do if the Leech ended up killing her. Kaldur stopped as he reached the door to Room 1318, his heart clenching as he realized he couldn't hear anything. Maybe Reese was already dead. Maybe he was too late.  _Again_.

"I know you're out there, Aqualad," The cold voice of Luke Racer said smugly. "If you would like to save your girlfriend, you'll have to stop me first. And might I say, Reese's skin is  _so_ beautiful, I might just have a bit more fun before I let you capture me." Kaldur's teeth ground and he backed up a few feet before running and slamming into the door, making it splinter on impact. He found Luke standing over Reese's unconscious body, and Kaldur froze when he realized that Reese didn't look  _alive_. Her skin was a translucent papery gray, and her breaths were few and far between.

"What did you  _do_ to her?" he snarled. If Luke, the Leech, had ended up killing Reese, no one would have been able to stop Kaldur from getting his revenge.

"Don't worry your gilled little head, Kaldur'ahm. Little Reese isn't  _dead_ , I enjoy her far too much to kill her just yet," At that moment, Kaldur snapped. It didn't matter that his mother had brought him up "to keep the peace" whenever possible. Reese was  _dying_ , and Luke was relishing in his "achievement".

"You.  _Bastard_." Kaldur growled before he sprang, swinging one of his water-bearers, which he'd just turned into a mace, into the Leech's chest, breaking the villain's hold on Reese and throwing him through the wall, and into the schoolyard below. There was a multitude of shouts as the other students scrambled away as they watched Luke slam into a group of trashcans nearby.

Kaldur jumped down after him and stalked towards the son of Parasite and threw the Leech across the yard, where he slammed against the brick wall, the mortar cracking from the force. 

"Aqualad stop!" A voice cried. Kaldur turned to see Wally, as Kid Flash, standing behind him, holding Reese in his arms. The brunette shape-shifter was still unconscious but was beginning to wake up. Kaldur raced over to Wally's side just as Reese's eyes fluttered open.

"K-Kaldur?" She whispered hoarsely. Aqualad heaved a big sigh of relief as color began to return to her face. He'd been so scared that he wouldn't get to her in time. That the Leech would kill her, or worse...

"Kaldur, Luke was here! He was here and he almost killed me and-" Kaldur cut her off by running his fingers gently down her cheek. He saw some of the teachers directing the students to a secure location in the park across the street as Wally sped over to check on the Leech.

"Reese, I know. Why do you think I'm here? Wally called me after Luke took you hostage." Reese looked around for a moment before her eyes landed on Wally and the Leech.

"What did you do to him?" Kaldur felt his face begin to flush. He didn't regret what he'd done, not by a long shot, but admitting it in front of Reese for some reason made him feel sheepish.

"I, uh, threw him through the wall?" Reese blinked at him for a moment before splitting into a wide grin.

"Good job," she said. Kaldur just stared at her.

"Wait, you're not angry with me?" Reese shook her head.

"Kaldur, why would I be mad? The guy kidnapped me,  _twice_ , and almost killed me both times. I kind of think he deserved to get thrown out a window." Kaldur chuckled, but his laughter was abruptly cut off when another student yelled,

"Look out, Aqualad!" Kaldur whipped around in time to see Luke throw Kid Flash across the quad. Parasite's son ran forward that Kaldur had only seen from him once before, and wrapped his clammy hand around the Atlantean's throat, roughly tugging him away from Reese.

"If I'm not able to take Reese as long as you're protecting her, maybe I should just get rid of _you_ first," As the Leech's powers slowly drained Kaldur of his life force, out of the corner of his eye, Aqualad saw, Reese. Her eyes started to glow, and her skin began to change. It turned silver, and fur began to grow. Metallic black stripes spread out from her spine, and she dropped onto all fours. In a few seconds, before them stood the Reese-tiger, her eyes glowing a silvery brown, tail-tip twitching angrily.

"What the hell?" Luke whispered, just as Reese growled,

"[Cover your ears.]" Then, she roared.

Reese

Reese's heart almost stopped when Luke grabbed Kaldur. It was bad enough that Luke had tried to kill  _her_ again, now he was trying to kill  _Kaldur_? In the back of her mind, Reese felt the Silver X rear its head. X loved a fight, and this time Reese was more than happy to give it to them. As long as she was the one in control, of course. Instead of Silver's eyes going completely silver, they were now a silvery-brown, a mix of Reese herself and the Silver X.

After Reese turned into a tiger, after feeling the wild feline's DNA combine its helixes with her own, she stared at the Leech and Kaldur, growling softly. For the first time since she'd met him, Reese saw Luke look something other than smug. His facial expression was something between fear and confusion.

"What the hell?" he whispered, half to himself, and Silver silently preened with the slight quaver she found in his voice. Reese planted her paws firmly on the grass, before growling to Kaldur.

"[Cover your ears.]" Then, she opened her jaws, and roared. Luke clutched his head, dropping Kaldur to the ground, where the Atlantean gasped for breath. If Dinah Lance's canary cry was powerful, then Reese Michaels' Roar was at least twice as powerful, and twice as loud.

It wasn't as high-pitched, but it was forceful, and it made the Leech fly into the trashcans, again. As Reese stalked towards where he was laying, a gust of wind alerted her to the arrival of a speedster. She turned to see that Kid Flash had apparently recovered and was now staring at her in shock.

"Silver, are you  _crazy_? You just revealed your secret identity to, like, the  _entire_ school." Not even caring anymore if anybody saw her, Reese quickly shifted back to human, just as Kaldur walked up to them, still looking a bit woozy.

"What happened?" he asked, just as all of the Keystone High students swarmed around them.

"Reese, how long have you had powers?"

"Have you ever taken down a supervillain?" At this Reese just waved a hand in Luke's general direction, where the villain was lying face-down in a moldy banana peel. The last question made Reese and Kaldur freeze, while Wally burst out laughing.

"Are you and Aqualad dating?" Reese's throat chose that moment to run dry, and it didn't look like Kaldur was faring any better. Unfortunately, Wally was there to brighten the spotlight.

"Oh, yeah! They  _totally_ are. AquaSilver is officially the new Spitfire,"  _That_ snapped Reese and Kaldur out of their stupors.

"Kid!" Aqualad cried, his cheeks tinged pink. Reese rolled her eyes before she grabbed the front of Kaldur's suit and brought his lips down on hers. Their audience cheered, and Reese could hear Wally cackling in the background. After a moment, a thought flashed through Reese's mind, making her break from the kiss with a gasp. Kaldur looked at her worriedly.

"Reese is something wrong?" Reese just chuckled nervously in response.

"I just realized something," she said. "Batman is going to  _kill_ me when he finds out." Wally looked at her.

"He wouldn't really, would he?" Reese just raised an eyebrow at him, like,  _Really? Have you met_ _the Batman?_ She sighed.

"Let's go," she told her two teammates as she led them towards the Zeta tube.

**Recognized Aqualad B02, Kid Flash B02, Silver X B10**

xxxxxx

**Mount Justice; August 22nd, 14:30 EST**

As the three of them stepped out of the Zeta tube, Reese and Kaldur found the rest of the Team staring smugly at them. So much for the "we hate each other" charade. To be honest, Reese had been planning on telling Artemis, Zatanna, and M'gann anyway. Superboy, she guessed, couldn't have cared less, but judging from the self-indulgent smirk on the CADMUS clone's face, he was enjoying their embarrassment. Reese sighed before she spoke.

"Okay, where did you see it?" Artemis suddenly looked sheepish, and Reese got a sinking feeling.

"Uh, actually, Wally recorded the whole thing," In the back of Reese's mind, X reared her head, and Reese's eyes began to glow. But, before she could shift, a sudden wall of glowing blue water slammed into Wally's side and threw the speedster across the cave. Everyone, including Reese, spun around, shocked, in time to see Kaldur resheathing a water-bearer, and looking none too pleased.

"Do you have some sort of death-wish?" the Atlantean said angrily, his pupils starting to dilate. While Reese's eyes glowed silver when she was about to shift, Kaldur's eyes turned completely black, no hint of color whatsoever save for a thin ring of pale green.

Reese quickly shifted into her timberwolf and tackled Kaldur to the ground, making him lose focus and stop the Atlantean from revealing his shifting powers to everybody.

"[Calm  _down_ , Kaldur'ahm.]" Reese growled softly, watching his pale green irises expand until they were back to normal. Once he was in control, Reese slowly stepped off of him and shifted back as Artemis helped Wally.

"To be honest, Aqualad has a point KF," The blonde archer didn't really seem comfortable with being the voice of reason, but given Kaldur's fragile mental state, Reese deemed it necessary. Before anyone could say anything more, a timer dinged in the distance. M'gann scratched the back of her neck sheepishly.

"Sorry, I, uh, made more cookies. If nobody wants any though it's fine." Reese quickly shook her head.

"No, M'gann, that's very thoughtful of you. Superboy, Artemis, Wally, could you help her please?" The archer nodded, and Reese guessed that Artemis knew that she just wanted to get them out of the way. Zatanna had wandered off somewhere, presumably to practice her magic. Once they were out of earshot, Nightwing turned to Kaldur with a wavering smile on his face.

"Maybe you should start taking the serum too," the bluebird from Gotham said. Reese just leveled him with a glare.

"We need to go over the truth between Kaldur's shifts. Are they purely randomized, or can he shift at will?" Nightwing nodded, agreeing.

"Maybe it's like what Nightwing said about Reese's powers?" Jason asked. "Something to do with their emotions?" Reese nodded.

"It's very possible. We should go over it more once everybody else goes home."

"What about Kid Flash?" Jason asked again. "He was here when Kaldur shifted the first time, shouldn't he investigate this with us too?" Nightwing shook his head, and Reese turned to Dick in shock.

"Dick, are you sure? Wally's not going to be happy that we left him out." Richard Grayson shook his head gravely.

"It's too risky with both you _and_ Kaldur dealing with uncontrollable were-shifts right now. Anything he says may set you off." Reese and Kaldur glanced at each other before Reese nodded.

"Ok then," she said. "Let's get digging."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is Chapter 9. We're getting deeper into the plot, and Reese and Kaldur will find out what exactly D.A.W.N Academy is in the next chapter. While they're in Alaska.  
> I've also started on a Power Rangers Dino Charge fic centering on a Topaz Energem, Topaz Ranger, Maiasaura Zord, and a pairing between Chase and an OC named Lara. I should get the first chapter of "The Blackened Topaz" up in the next couple of days.
> 
> -FreedomWhistle


	11. Chapter 10...Or In Which Reese Dive-Bombs A Speedster(Alaska:Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brynnley Thawne and Richard O'Shay-Dent

**Mount Justice; August 22nd, 18:00 EST**

Kaldur

Kaldur was just finishing his seventh chocolate chip cookie when Reese started squealing. She'd been skimming some CADMUS files on Silver X and had apparently found something. The two of them had been investigating their shifting powers for the past three hours, and truthfully, Kaldur was getting a little restless. Once Reese had finished, Kaldur looked at her expectantly as she beckoned him over.

M'gann and Conner had gone to Happy Harbor about an hour ago, saying something about "hero stuff". Nightwing and Robin had gone to the training room to let off some steam while sparring, after they'd been unlucky in finding anything. Kaldur didn't know where Artemis and Wally had slipped off to, and at the moment, he didn't care.

"Did you find something?" he asked as he stepped up to the holo-computer. The girl next to him nodded excitedly.

"I think so. Look at this," she pulled up what looked like a hospital archive report, a medical record on someone named Vincent Anthony. It seemed that Mr.Anthony had been admitted to a hospital in Northern Alaska in March, not long after Silver X was said to have been created. "Read these symptoms," Reese continued, pulling up another file.

"Dilated pupils, glowing eyes, extremely short temper...This sounds like  _us_." Reese nodded excitedly, and Kaldur couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked when she was excited about something.

"...talk to Mr.Anthony to find out more." Kaldur snapped out of his thoughts at Reese's words.

"Excuse me?" he asked. Kaldur was familiar with Reese's wild schemes, but traveling to northern  _Alaska_ behind the Team's back to track down a man who may or may not be a shape-shifter? That was just a wee bit too extreme in Kaldur's book.

"I _s_ _aid_ if we want to find out what exactly Silver X is, Victor Anthony would be a good place to start." Kaldur sighed, knowing there wasn't going to be any way to change his girlfriend's mind.

"And how do you propose we  _get_ to Alaska?" At that moment, the Zeta tube turned on.

**Recognized Superboy B04, Miss Martian B05**

"We'll take the Bioship." Reese skipped over to M'gann and was practically bouncing in excitement. "M'gann, guess what? I found a clue about Silver X and Kaldur and I need to borrow the Bioship!" her words all came out in one breath, making it hard for anyone to understand her. The green-skinned girl in front of them looked Kaldur, a bit puzzled.

"Translation please, Aqualad?" Kaldur sighed.

"We found some more information about Silver X, only it's in Northern Alaska. Could we borrow the Bioship to go investigate?" Kaldur held his breath as Miss Martian seemed to mull it over in her head. After a moment, M'gann nodded.

"Sure! Just have a mental link up at all times in order to fly it," Kaldur nodded gratefully, seeing as how Reese was already halfway to the Bioship and would've slammed into the door had M'gann not hurriedly opened it.

"We'll see you soon," Kaldur told them. "Tell Nightwing and Robin we've gone to investigate our shifting powers, and that we should return in a few days." Superboy nodded.

"Will do. Good Luck," Kaldur nodded again before walking up to the Bioship. What neither him nor Reese heard were Superboy's final words.

"Wait.  _Our_ powers?"

xxxxxx

**Northern Tundra; August 23rd, 04:30 AST**

As Reese piloted the Bioship across the frozen Alaskan tundra, Kaldur was lost in thought. Before they'd taken off, Reese had found out the name of the hospital Victor Anthony was staying at. It was actually a traveling clinic headed up by a charity to help the native Inuit people with the medical care they wouldn't normally be able to afford. Kaldur guessed that a supposed shape-shifter fit into that category.

"So, what are we going to do once we reach the village?" Reese asked. She had changed into her Silver X suit halfway through their trip and was now looking at Kaldur with an expectant expression on her face.

"We talk to the volunteer in charge. See if they can tell us where Anthony is staying." he'd actually only thought of this plan ten minutes ago, once they'd finished eating some snacks from the stash Wally always kept.

"We're coming up on the village now," Reese said about half an hour later, and Kaldur nodded, quickly tapping his belt buckle to turn his suit into the white-and-grey pattern that made up his polar stealth. They weren't really on a stealth mission, but Kaldur didn't want to stand out too much. 

After landing the Bioship a few meters from the entrance to the clinic, Kaldur and Reese walked down the ramp to meet with the head doctor, an Inuit woman named Kallik, who had fortunately agreed to meet with them at five in the morning.

"We run a twenty-four-hour workforce," Kallik told them as she led Kaldur and Reese inside her trailer-office. It was almost autumn in the Alaskan tundra, so the sun was slowly beginning its descent in the northern sky, where once it set it wouldn't rise again until almost May. Kaldur blinked as his eyes adjusted from the reflectiveness of the snow outside to the dim interior within the trailer.

Kallik was just sitting down at her desk when Kaldur spoke up.

"We were hoping you could help us with something," he started, and Kallik nodded, seeming to agree. After a moment, she spoke.

"I'll do whatever I can," she told them. "It's not every day someone like me, this far north, gets to help out a pair of superheroes." Reese then slid a file folder across the desk, stopping it at Kallik's fingertips.

"Aqualad and I are looking for this man," she said. "A 'Vincent Anthony'. We believe he may be staying here, and he possesses some information that the Team needs." In the time-span of half a second, Kaldur saw Kallik's whole demeanor change. Before she'd been warm and inviting, now she was almost as cold as the frozen land outside, her emotions locked up tight.

"I think you've made a mistake," she said. "Nobody named Vincent Anthony is being cared for here. Now, I think you should leave." Kaldur saw Reese's eyes flash, but before she could shift, an explosion outside threw all three of them to the ground.

"Stay here," Kaldur told Kallik, and he and Reese ran outside, to find the entire clinic on fire. Flames licked up the sides of the buildings and another explosion threw them all to the ground.

"Think you can put out the fires while I deal with the patients?" Reese asked. Kaldur smirked at her.

"Silver, you know me better than that. Of course, I can ángelos."

Reese

As Reese helped an elderly Inuit man into the bus the volunteers were using to evacuate, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.

"Naqurmiik," the man whispered to her. "Thank you." Reese nodded distractedly and glanced to where Kaldur was standing by another trailer, using his water-bearers to extinguish the flames. He seemed fine, so where was this sense of impending doom coming from? A blur from the corner of her eye made Reese turn towards the open tundra to her left. What she saw, or rather, what she  _heard_ , made her eyes bulge. A sonic boom.

And there, running at her faster than what seemed to be the speed of sound, was a girl. Before Reese had a chance to process anything, there was a fist flying towards her at fifty miles per hour. The punch slammed into Reese's stomach and threw her a good twenty feet away. As Silver wearily lifted her head, she found herself face-to-face with a girl who looked about fifteen, Dick's age, wearing a purple bodysuit with a lightning-shaped emblem similar to Wally's and the Flash's, only the pattern was reversed.

The violet cowl hid most of her face, except for a thick blond ponytail, styled in a way that reminded Reese of Artemis. The lenses were also translucent, and the girl's eyes looked to be a deep blue.

"Who  _are_ you?" Reese hissed through gritted teeth, holding her most likely broken ribs. The girl smirked.

"Call me Velocity," she said before Reese was once again thrown several feet away by one of Velocity's high-speed punches. 

' _She's leading me away from the people_ ,' Reese thought to herself. ' _On the open tundra, there's more room for a speedster to run._ ' Reese narrowed her eyes as Velocity sped away, presumably to get ready to run. ' _Well_ ,' Reese thought. ' _I won't let her_.' Standing up, still nursing her side, Reese shifted into an animal she hadn't tried yet. A peregrine falcon. She felt her body shrink, her bones becoming hollow. Reese lifted her arms as they narrowed and tapered to a point. Reese felt the brief pain as blood feathers poked through her skin. Then, she shot up into the sky, stopping at about 3000 feet.

Reese saw Velocity skid to a stop where she'd been standing a moment before, scratching her head in confusion. Silver watched the speedster for a few seconds before she tilted her wings and dove. Peregrine falcons while diving could reach speeds of almost 240 miles per hour, and Reese desperately hoped it would be fast enough. Luckily, it seemed to be. Reese swung her talons forward and swiped them along Velocity's cowl, leaving six deep gashes in the supposedly versatile material. Apparently, getting swiped by a peregrine falcon wasn't one of them.

The momentum threw Velocity to the ground, momentarily stunning her. The speedster's distracted state gave Reese precious few seconds to land back on the ground and shift into her timberwolf. As Velocity sat up woozily, Reese howled. The sound carried throughout the tundra, and in the distance, a pack of regular wolves howled back. When everyone else heard it though, they froze. Reese glanced at Kaldur, where he was still trying to extinguish some flames. When his eyes met Reese's though, they widened in fear, and a split second later, Reese was thrown to the side,  _again_ , by a force that  _wasn't_ one of Velocity's high-speed punches.

Reese cried out in pain as her ribs thudded into a rock, and the shock made her turn human again. Once again, Reese found herself staring into the eyes of an unfamiliar figure, but this time she was able to recognize them. With a terrible scar marring the right half of his face, he looked almost identical to his adoptive father. At least, that was as much as Reese could divulge from the D.A.W.N file. She knew who Velocity was now. What other evil speedster was out there?

Finding new strength, Reese reached behind her and pulled out the bo staff Nightwing had been training her in for the past week. Her ribs still smart, but she could work through the pain. The scar on her abdomen was proof enough of her pain tolerance. Silver swung the staff towards Richard O'Shay-Dent, but he ducked, and Brynnley Thawne ran forwards, but her attack was blocked by Reese's staff.

"Why are you here?" Reese growled, half from the pain of her ribs, half from anger. O'Shay just chuckled maliciously in response.

"Well,  _Silver_ , shouldn't we be asking you that?" He reached into his parka's jacket and took out a worn coin. Reese knew enough about Gotham's Rogues to know what Two-Face always did with his silver dollar. "Heads says we kill you, tails say we don't." Reese watched the coin with bated breath as it flew into the air, but before O'Shay could catch it again, she swung the bo staff after pressing a button, electrifying it.

It hit Velocity in the chest, throwing her to the ground, where the daughter of Eobard Thawne lay silently, sparks popping around her body. O'Shay turned to Reese, a murderous glint in his eye. 

"How dare you!" he growled. At that moment, the coin fell to the ground, heads up. Reese's head snapped up to meet O'Shay's as the villain laughed wickedly. 

"Oh, look!" he cried gleefully. "I get to kill you!" he took out a small glass container from another pocket, and Reese noticed there were a skull and crossbones on the label. Definitely  _not_ good. O'Shay flung the acid towards Reese, and she quickly spun her bo staff in a circle, kind of like a shield. Most of the acid was deflected, but a small portion ricocheted off her staff and onto Reese's shoulder, bringing with it a cry of pain and a sizzling noise as the chemical slowly ate through Silver's suit.

"I would  _love_ to chat," O'Shay cackled. "But, we really must be going." Reese felt herself get drenched with freezing cold water as Kaldur used his water-bearers to get the acid off of her. Cold water plus cold temperatures equal...

"Hypothermia," Reese whispered through chattering teeth as she watched O'Shay take Brynnley's unconscious body under his arm, throw a smoke bomb down quickly, then disappear. 

"Nightwing to Silver X and Aqualad. You guys didn't by any chance run into the children of two villains, did you?" Dick's voice filtered through Reese's commlink, and she latched onto the sound of it to keep herself from going unconscious.

"Yeah, we did," she said hoarsely, everything going fuzzy. "Daughter of the Reverse-Flash, and son of Two-Face." Dick's sigh through the earpiece made Reese's gut clench.

"We've had reports from all over all morning. KF and Artemis met with a pair of Scarecrow twins. Robin and Zatanna found the daughter of Queen Bee and daughter of the Riddler, and Miss M and Superboy found the son of Poison Ivy. Also, apparently Luke escaped from the prison convoy you put him in." Reese felt hot tears spring to her eyes. She couldn't get away from the Leech, no matter how hard she tried.

"We're on our way back now," Kaldur said with a glance at Reese. "See you in a few hours. Aqualad out." As he turned off his comm, Reese realized that she couldn't feel her fingers or toes. They were completely numb. As a matter of fact, she couldn't seem to focus on Kaldur. He was all blurry. Reese felt herself begin to fall, but she couldn't catch herself. She heard Kaldur calling her name, but Reese was too tired to process anything.

"Silver? Reese! No, don't sleep right now. You  _can't_ fall asleep right now!" Kaldur? Why did he sound so scared? It was so  _cold_.

' _Why am I so cold?_ ' Reese thought as everything faded to black. ' _Why am I...so...cold..._ '

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha! Cliffhanger!
> 
>  
> 
> I will try to update this story every Tuesday, but if I don't get chapters up in time I'm sorry.


	12. Chapter 11...Or In Which Reese Drinks Foxglove Tea(Alaska:Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reese gets taken care of; Aqualad, Silver X, Nightwing, and Robin talk to Victor Anthony; He gives them a warning; Kaldur and Reese get betrayed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this chapter is pretty dialogue-heavy. It's also REALLY long, but there was a lot of stuff to cover, and I may still do an Alaska Part 3, I'm not sure yet. Tell me in the comments if I should.
> 
> ("BEREFT" REFERENCE WITHIN!)

**Traveling Inuit Clinic, Northern Tundra; August 23rd, 07:00 AST**

Kaldur

Kaldur caught Reese's limp, shivering form as she fell and held her close to his body. Kaldur looked up for a moment and looked around for the strategist and speedster, but they were nowhere to be found.

All that was around Aqualad and the unconscious Silver X was a barren tundra landscape and the trailers that made up the clinic some distance away. The clinic.  _Kallik_. She could help. As he slowly trudged across the rough terrain, thoughts were running through Kaldur's head at light-speed.

Velocity, and her super-speed.

O'Shay and that blasted silver dollar.

The conversation with Nightwing.

The fact that the Leech had escaped.  _Again_.

O'Shay.

Acid.

Reese's scream.

"Kallik!" Kaldur cried as soon as he caught sight of her. "Silver X needs help!" The Inuit woman ran over from where she was helping some other patients and gazed down at Reese's limp form, an unreadable expression on her face.

"What happened?" she asked finally. Kaldur then gave her the rundown of what had happened out in the open tundra, though how she hadn't noticed, he didn't know. After he was done explaining, Kallik tapped one manicured nail against her chin. Kaldur thought it strange that a woman who lived up in the frozen Alaskan North had time for manicures, but what did he know? His own girlfriend could turn into a wolf.

"Hypothermia," Kallik said. "it's a condition that occurs when a person's body temperature reaches below ninety-five degrees." 

"Can you help her?" Kaldur asked, somewhat desperately, but he was on his last shreds of self-control. Kallik nodded determinedly, and Kaldur let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"Yes, but we need to warm her up,  _fast_. Bring her to my trailer." Once inside, Kaldur gently set Reese down on the couch, then turned to Kallik as the woman took a space heater out from its spot in the corner.

"I apologize, I haven't been entirely honest with you and Reese. Victor Anthony  _is_ staying here at the clinic, but is in solitary confinement." A million things ran through Kaldur's head at that moment, but only one thing stood out to him. Reese's name.

"What name did you say?" he asked softly.

"Victor Anthony?" Kallik said, somewhat innocently. Kaldur shook his head, eyes narrowing and fearing the worst.

"The other one.  _Reese_. Where did you hear it?" Batman had said that he would take care of the situation in Keystone, and there was no way the news of Silver X's leaked identity would reach the tundra that quickly, even with the aid of modern technology. For a moment, Kaldur thought he saw a flicker of fear pass over Kallik's face when he spoke, but then it was gone.

"Uh, did I say  _Reese_?" Kallik managed to stammer out. "I could've sworn I said, Silver X. I've no idea how I got the name  _Reese_. I've never heard that name before in my life." Kaldur sincerely doubted that, but right now they had bigger problems to deal with.

"You said that Victor Anthony was here?" Kallik nodded quickly, seemingly grateful for the change in subject.

"Yes. There were some, uh,  _complications_ with the Silver X that he was given, and it made him a danger to everyone at the clinic. Do you by any chance have anyone you could contact to help with your 'information-gathering'?" The way she said information-gathering made Kaldur think it would be more like an interrogation, but he nodded nonetheless and turned around, tapping his commlink in the process.

"Aqualad to Nightwing," he started, and was quite relieved when Dick answered.

"Nightwing here. What do you need Aqualad?" Kaldur glanced over his shoulder at Kallik to see that she was brewing something on a portable stove. Turning back around, he spoke softly into his commlink.

"I need some accessories. The chemical is down. Preferably two birds." Kallik didn't know it, but the Team had developed a simple code if any of them were in need of assistance. What Kaldur had just said translated to, 'We need help. Silver X is hurt(or sick). Nightwing and Robin ASAP.'

Kaldur glanced again at Reese in time to see Kallik slip a small glass vial into her coat. Oblivious to Nightwing's voice still filtering through his earpiece, Aqualad turned around to fully face Kallik and Reese.

"What are you doing?" he asked. Kallik froze, and her composure crumpled under Aqualad's stone-cold stare.

"I was, uh, just giving Silver here some hot fluids. Should warm her up faster." Kaldur stared for a moment longer, before holding out a single webbed hand.

"Can I see the vial?" he asked again, his self-restraint hanging by a shoestring. He didn't want to risk anything where Reese was concerned. When Kallik hesitated, Kaldur took a step forward.

" _Kallik_ ," he snarled. "Give me, the  _vial_." Kallik held herself back for a moment more, before relenting and handing the small glass container into Kaldur's open palm. Aqualad read the label, and his eyes widened. 'Foxglove Tea', it read. He narrowed his eyes and glared at Kallik.

"Isn't foxglove  _poisonous_?" Kaldur asked softly. Angrily. Kal saw Kallik take a step back before she spoke.

"Okay. I  _know_ foxglove is normally toxic, but I  _swear_ there isn't enough of the actual plant  _in_ the tea to be harmful. I wouldn't  _purposefully_ poison Silver X. I  _promise_ , Aqualad."

Only later would Kaldur realize how fake that promise was.

xxxxxx

The roar of the Batplane jerked Kaldur out of his thoughts, and he ran out to meet Nightwing and Robin as they walked off the ramp. Kaldur didn't know how Dick managed to snag the Batplane, but knowing the Dark Knight, Bruce already knew.

"What happened to Ree-" Jason broke off when he noticed Kallik standing behind Aqualad. The woman looked at the three of them for a moment, before a small smile broke out on her face, but Kaldur couldn't help but notice that it looked more like a grimace.

"I'll go get Mr. Anthony ready for your questions. Silver X should be rested enough by now. She's in the first trailer on your left." Jason was off like a shot as soon as Kallik had finished speaking, and was now throwing the door open. Kaldur and Nightwing got to the door just in time to see Reese trying to stand, looking very woozy, before her legs gave out, and she collapsed.

"You're still weak, ángelos," Kaldur told her as he sat her down on the faded plaid couch. Kaldur noticed that it was a bit warm in the trailer, and when Reese turned her head, the girl's brow was drenched in sweat.

"Is it just me," Nightwing started. "Or is it hot in here? Like,  _really_ hot in here?" Kaldur wanted to agree with him, but the heat was quickly becoming unbearable. His Atlantean physiology was susceptible to high temperatures if the Team's first time in Bialya was anything to go by. Kaldur  _still_ didn't know everything that had gone on during that mission.

"Turn...off...the space heater," Kaldur managed to wheeze out as everything lost focus. "We...need...it colder." Jason spun the dial, and Kaldur and Reese both heaved a sigh of relief at the cooler temperatures. 

"That's weird," Jason said once Aqualad and Reese had cooled down. "The thermostat setting was all the way up."

"If we hadn't turned the heater off when we did," Nightwing supplied. "Reese could've been in serious trouble."

"Who turned on the heater then?" Reese asked. Kaldur's eyes narrowed as he realized who the culprit was. How had he not seen it before?

" _Kallik_ ," he said. Reese stared at him in shock.

"Kallik?" she echoed. "Why would Kallik do that? She seemed so nice." Robin opened his mouth to speak, but a sudden voice made all four of them jump in surprise.

"Mr.Anthony is ready for you," Kallik called from outside. "I'll take you to him if you want." Nightwing and Robin walked out of the trailer, but Kaldur and Reese held back.

"Can we trust her Kaldur?" Reese asked him softly. "Like, can we really, truly trust Kallik?" Kaldur sighed and shook his head.

"I don't know Reese," he said grimly. "I just don't know."

Reese

As Reese and Kaldur followed Nightwing and Robin outside, Reese couldn't help but feel like something was wrong. It was like her own special Spidey-sense. This time though, it was different than when she was fighting Velocity. It felt more, physical if that made any sense. Like something was wrong with  _her_ , not something in her immediate vicinity.

Kaldur had told them how he caught Kallik with a small vial of Foxglove Tea, as she was giving it to Reese, but then Kaldur had said that Kallik swore up and down there wasn't enough of the toxic plant inside the tea to do any real harm to Reese in her fragile state. Had that been true? Would Kaldur lie to them? No, he wouldn't. But,  _Kallik_ would.

Reese clutched her head as a sudden pain lanced through her temple. She wasn't normally one to get migraines, not like Lauren, who'd actually ended up in the Emergency Room a couple times because of how bad her headaches had been.

So, where had this random cranial pain come from? Was she thinking too hard? Was that a thing? Was it a side effect of the hypothermia, maybe? Yeah, that was probably it. Reese didn't want to think of the other possibility.

"Hey, Silver," a young voice said, and Reese jumped in surprise. But, it was only Jason. "Are you okay?" he asked. "Because I think we're here." Reese looked up, and they seemed to be outside of a squat, gray building, built to last, with a set of steel pneumatic doors, that opened without a sound when Kallik swiped her keycard across a sensor.

As Kallik led everyone inside, Reese's sense of foreboding got stronger. Something was terribly wrong.

"Which way is Anthony?" Dick asked as everyone stopped in the entryway, shocked. The inside of the building looked more like a high-tech hospital ward, not some low-budget traveling clinic. Where was Kallik getting this money? The woman in question gestured off to the side, down a long corridor.

"He's down this way. Follow me." When they started walking, Reese noticed a small envelope sitting on the corner of a desk. Swiping it, Reese saw that inside the envelope were what looked like pictures. Pictures, she realized, of the  _Team_. And not the news shots either. These were taken completely in candid. There was one of Artemis and Wally, walking down the streets of Star City. M'gann and Conner, playing with Wolf in a forest. Then, Nightwing and Robin, in Gotham, sans costumes.

Who  _were_ these people? That was until Reese got to the last picture. It was her and Kaldur. In CADMUS. Reese's insides rolled as she realized someone had been watching them for, if the time stamps on the pictures were any indication, at  _least_ two months.

"Silver, are you coming?" Kallik asked her from where she and Reese's teammates were about to enter a room. Reese looked up and nodded nervously, pocketing the pictures before Kallik could see. But, she wasn't fast enough. For Nightwing anyway.

"What's that?" he asked her quietly. Reese sighed and slid the envelope out, slowly so Kallik wouldn't see. As Dick flipped through the pictures, his mask lenses got smaller and smaller until they were little more than white slits.

"What are these?" he growled, low, so nobody else could hear. Reese shook her head.

"I don't know. But, it looks like someone has been watching us for at  _least_ the last three months." Dick shook his head, but before he could speak, a crash sounded from the room Victor Anthony was presumably in.

Running inside, Silver X and Nightwing were shocked to see a young man in his early twenties, holding Kallik by her throat. Well, Reese  _assumed_ he was in his early twenties, it was hard to tell. Considering he had a stringy brown beard and yellow eyes, he didn't even look  _human_.

Then, to complicate matters even more, the man shook violently, then turned into a chocolate-brown wolf and started circling Kallik threateningly. Reese and Kaldur glanced at each other before they too shifted into their wolves, Reese a metallic silver, Kaldur pitch-black. As soon as Reese had shifted, a multitude of feelings suddenly flooded into her brain, so fast and so hard that she collapsed. 

Fear, anger, regret, they were all running through her head so fast Reese couldn't comprehend them. But, she did know one thing. They weren't hers. Or Kaldur's. These emotions were Victor Anthony's.

"[Reese, you okay?]" Kaldur growled softly, his nose rubbing against the top of her head. Reese nodded and shakily stood up, facing Anthony.

"[What's wrong?]" she asked him, stepping forward. The brown wolf skittered back in fright, growling.

"[What is that monster doing here?]" the wolf suddenly whimpered, sounding terrified. Reese glanced over her shoulder at where Anthony was looking and found herself staring into the smug eyes of Kallik. Kallik, the one who'd agreed to let them come here in the first place. The person who'd supposedly poisoned her with foxglove tea, then said she didn't.

"[Don't drink the tea.]" Anthony said, and Reese's blood ran cold. "[Whatever you do, don't drink the  _tea_ ]" The brown wolf suddenly collapsed to the ground, seizing violently as electricity coursed through his veins, and Reese and Kaldur's heads shot up to see Kallik standing in front of them, holding a taser.

"[He was always so loose-lipped.]" Kallik growled, and Reese realized that the Inuit woman was speaking to them. In their animal forms. She saw Anthony's wolf form give one last jolt, before it settled, his chest not moving. He was dead. Kallik had killed him.

"[Why did you do that?]" Reese growled as everything went fuzzy again. Reese felt her heartbeat begin to become erratic, and she was scared. What was happening to her? Then, she remembered something that  Anthony had said. The  _tea_. Foxglove tea. Reese had drunk it. It  _was_ poisonous. Kaldur had been right.

"[Aah, Silver,]" Kallik started as Reese began to sway on her feet. It was getting hard to breathe. One of the symptoms, Reese realized, of foxglove, was shortness of breath. She  _had_ been poisoned. She looked up at Kallik again as the woman smirked. "[Was it something you  _drank_?]"  Reese vowed to never come back to Alaska because it seemed nothing ever went right for her when she was here.

Reese then saw Kaldur's wolf thud into Kallik, Nightwing and his eskrima sticks not far behind. Jason knelt down beside Reese and ran a small, gloved hand down her spine, watching helplessly as Reese started to convulse.

"Aqualad!" Robin cried as Silver's body settled, no longer moving. The bad thing was, her chest wasn't moving either. The last thing Reese saw or heard, was a pitch-black wolf tilting their head back and howling mournfully.

Then, Reese's eyes fell shut, and her heart stopped beating. Forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is Reese dead? Wait till next week to find out! (I swear, it's not as bad as it looks.)  
> If this goes up on Wednesday, I'm sorry. It's because Freshman boys are dumb and one of my classmates deleted the original chapter.  
> (THOMAS, I HATE YOU!!!)


	13. Chapter 12...Or In Which Nightwing And Aqualad Come To Blows(Alaska:Part 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nightwing, Aqualad, and Robin try desperately to save Reese, and Nightwing has a secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if Dick/Nightwing is pretty OOC in this, I wanted to delve a little bit deeper into his character, and he ended up acting more like Robin from Teen Titans than Dick Grayson in Young Justice. Sorry. (I'm really not)  
> -FreedomWhistle

**Arctic Bunker, Northern Tundra; August 23rd 08:30 AST**

Kaldur

Kaldur thudded into Kallik's chest, a low growl rumbling in his throat. Across the room, Reese's still, limp body was being rapidly warmed as Robin rubbed his gloved hands up and down her furry spine. She wasn't breathing,  _hadn't_ been breathing for the past five minutes.

In his peripheral vision, Aqualad saw Nightwing handling his eskrima sticks with care, and suddenly the Gotham vigilante pressed the two batons against Kallik's throat.

"What did you  _do_ to her?" Dick growled, and Kaldur was quite shocked at the pure venom leaking from Nightwing's voice. He'd hardly ever seen Dick Grayson this angry. Kallik's face was slowly inching towards violet, but the Inuit woman managed to wheeze out a laugh.

"Don't you know, Nightwing?" she asked softly. "CADMUS always wins. We may be in the shadows, but we are never far from people's thoughts." Kallik's words threw Kaldur's concentration enough for her to throw the Atlantean off, making him fly into Jason and throwing them to the floor, as Kaldur shifted back to his normal form in the process.

"You're working for CADMUS?" Kaldur asked breathlessly. Nightwing abruptly dropped his eskrima sticks and stumbled back in shock, horror etched on his face. Kaldur launched himself at Kallik and wrapped one webbed hand around the woman's throat before she had a chance to catch her breath. "Who created the Silver X?" Kaldur wasn't sure why  _that_ was what he was worried about when his girlfriend was lying  _dead_ on the floor a few meters away.

"Oh, I'm sure you know Aqualad. In fact, you all do. Ask Superman, he'll know." Outside, a freak blizzard had suddenly blown in, making the temperature drop almost thirty degrees in that many seconds. Kaldur's eyes widened in shock as he watched Kallik grasp the door handle.

"No!" he cried as the woman wrenched the door open and step out into the freezing snow. He lept up to follow, but by the time he got outside, Kallik was gone, and the only thing awaiting him was the barren Alaskan tundra. Kaldur had a sneaking suspicion that this blizzard hadn't been brought on by natural causes if the frost designs on the windows were anything to go by.

"Kaldur? Aqualad!" Nightwing's voice jerked Kaldur from his thoughts and he spun around to face the two Gothamites in front of him.

"What?" he snapped, harder than he intended, but could they really blame him? His girlfriend was dead, and the only connection they had to the incident had just walked out into an Alaskan blizzard created by Weather Wizard.

Because of the intensity of his words, Jason stepped back a few paces, but Dick stood his ground. The younger bird had tear streaks underneath his mask, while Nightwing's face was still as stone. No emotion whatsoever.

"We can save her," Jason said quietly. Kaldur didn't need to ask who he was talking about.

"How?" he managed to ask. Nightwing grinned

"Have you ever read Mary Shelley?" Kaldur's raised eyebrow should have been enough to convey his answer to Nightwing, but Dick's smile just grew wider.

Dick

Dick Grayson kept many secrets. The fact that Bruce Wayne was the Batman was one of them. Another secret was that his girlfriend, Zatanna Zatara, had now decided to join the Justice League and had broken up with him because she wasn't sure how their relationship would work. 

_That_ one particularly tugged on his heartstrings. But, it was nothing compared to one of the largest secrets the last Flying Grayson ever kept.

He was in love with somebody already taken. Dick hadn't meant to develop feelings for a certain silver shape-shifter. He'd obviously already known about Reese  _before_ Kaldur had introduced her to the rest of the Team that day in Metropolis. Hey, he lived with _Batman_ , Dick was bound to investigate Kaldur's mysterious partner sooner or later.

The deeper the first Robin, later Nightwing got into the investigation of Reese Michaels, the more intrigued Dick Grayson grew. How Kaldur had managed to keep the existence of Reese from the Team for so long was actually pretty impressive, considering he was under the supervision of Batman  _and_ worked with two of the Dark Knight's proteges.

Impressiveness aside, Dick had been just as afraid for Reese's safety at the Metropolis museum the day it exploded as Kaldur was, perhaps even more. It was part of the reason Nightwing had tried so hard to bring Reese out of her coma, even going so far as to set up a meeting with Hugo Strange in Belle Reve, asking the former psychiatrist for help, but neither Aqualad nor Batman needed to know about that.

"How do you propose we save her,  _Nightwing_? I'm not some _Dr.Frankenstein,_ " Kaldur's voice jerked Dick out of his thoughts, and he glanced up to find the Atlantean staring at him intently. Dick internally winced when he saw Kaldur's face. Aqualad was a  _wreck_ , and who wouldn't be? The girl Kaldur loved was dead on the floor and their only connection had just walked out into a blizzard.

"Uh, well," Nightwing trailed off and glanced at Robin from the corner of his eye. Jason was the only other person who was aware of Dick's feelings, and thankfully, the new Robin hadn't spilled the beans. Yet. 

"Any _day_ now, Nightwing," Kaldur grumbled and Nightwing narrowed his eyes.

"Hey, hey, hey," he started, stomping forward until he was nose-to-chest with Aqualad. "I'm trying the best I can. All we need to do is find Weather Wizard and get him to shock a lightning rod." Aqualad glanced at the pack over his shoulder.

"Couldn't I just use my water-bearers for the electrical charge?" he asked. Nightwing shook his head. Sometimes he seriously wondered how Aqualad became Team leader.

"No," was his simple answer to Kaldur's question. "How many volts do your water-bearers generate?" Kaldur thought for a moment before he spoke.

"350, I think?" Nightwing shook his head.

"It's not enough. Defibrillators generate anywhere from two hundred to seventeen hundred volts. Three-fifty is too close to the minimum to be reliable. We need a full-fledged lightning bolt to wake Silver X up." Kaldur nodded.

"Then what do you propose?" Nightwing tapped a finger against his chin as he figured out their course of action. If he and Robin...no that wouldn't work. If Aqualad...not a chance. Wait,  _maybe_ , yes that could work. If Jason... _yes_.

"We  _will_ need your water-bearers' electricity, eventually. For now, I need you to go and wait outside by the antenna. Your physiology is more adept at braving cold temperatures, so you  _should_ be fine. Then, wait for my signal."

"How will I know it's your 'signal'." Dick just chuckled.

"Trust me," he said. "You'll know." Aqualad still looked skeptical, but he nodded all the same and wrenched the door open and stepped outside. Once the door had shut, Nightwing let out a whooshing breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He saw Jason looking at him sadly.

"You really like her, don't you?" he asked. Dick tensed for a moment, then realized that Robin was right.

"Yeah," he says quietly. "I do," he glanced down at Reese's limp body and gently lifted her into his arms. Nightwing gazed at her still face for a moment before looking back towards Jason.

"Which is why I have to save her. So she can go back to Kaldur. He's the one who deserves Reese," After he had set Reese down on the bed where Victor Anthony had once lay, he turned around and took off his mask to stare Jason dead in the eye, cerulean eyes blazing.

"You tell  _anyone_ I just told you this, and I tell Bruce what you did to the Batcycle." Robin's eyes widened.

"You wouldn't," he hissed. Dick just raised an eyebrow.

"Try me." What neither of them realized was that Nightwing and Robin's commlinks were still active and that Aqualad heard what they said. 

Every. Single. Word.

Kaldur

Aqualad tried to quiet down the raging beast in his stomach, but it was insanely difficult. As Kaldur stood on the roof of the bunker awaiting Nightwing's signal, his pupils were dilating faster than anyone could catch.

Black, to green, to black, then back to green. 

_Nightwing_.

Kaldur couldn't believe it. Nightwing was in love with Reese. Was that why the Gotham vigilante had snapped back when they were fighting Kallik? Kaldur had never seen Batman's first ward this angry before, ever. 

Movement from the corner of his eye suddenly caught Aqualad's attention, jerking him from his thoughts and quenching the jealousy swimming in his gut. For the moment anyway. Kaldur glanced around the side of a square-shaped chimney to see Nightwing and Robin creeping out of the building, towards the eye of the storm, where Weather Wizard, and presumably Kallik, were stationed. After a moment, Aqualad heard Dick's disgusted shout in his ear.

" _Oo-kay_!" he cried. "I am  _never_ getting that picture out of my head." Jason's voice took the place of Nightwing's.

"Hey! Why'd you cover my eyes?"

"Because you don't need what I'm seeing scarring your little nine-year-old brain."

"Robin, what happened?" Kaldur asked, pointedly ignoring Nightwing.

"I don't know!" Jason cried. "We walked into the eye, and Nightwing just suddenly gagged and covered my eyes."

"Because I didn't want you to see what is happening right now, an event that is now burned into my retinas forever!" Aqualad was beginning to grow impatient.

"Robin, Nightwing!" he cried. " _Focus_. Nightwing, what's happening in the eye?" Kaldur could practically hear Dick Grayson shudder.

"Kallik and Weather Wizard are..." he trailed off.

" _Dick_ ," Aqualad never,  _ever_ used real names on assignments, so Nightwing knew he meant business.

"Well, uh, they were, uh... having, relations?" Kaldur felt his stomach contents churn. He knew, obviously, that even villains needed to let off some steam once in a while, but  _now_? In the presence of a nine-year-old? Kaldur ran a hand over his face and groaned in frustration.

"Just, break them up, will you?" he asked. "We're kind of on a deadline here." Nightwing groaned again before Kaldur heard him speak again, this time to Weather Wizard and Kallik.

"Okay, you two, Funtime's over. Time to head to prison." There was a series of grunts and thuds after, presumably from a small battle, then Kallik was thrown out of the blizzard, where the Inuit woman then thudded into the bunker's cold stone wall, where she slumped to the ground, unconscious.

Then, as Kaldur watched with bated breath as Nightwing was the next one to step out of the winter storm, engaged with Weather Wizard in a battle of wits, eskrima sticks against Weather Wizard's climate-controlling staff. 

Suddenly, Nightwing landed a blow, sweeping the villain's legs out from under him just as Weather Wizard made a thunderstorm appear above the bunker.

"Now, Aqualad!" Nightwing cried as a bolt of lightning arced down the sky towards the lightning rod that stood three feet away from where Kaldur was standing. Aqualad unsheathed his water-bearers and pointed them towards the antenna, letting his eel tattoos glow a bright whiteish-blue. The two electrical currents hit the lightning rod at the exact same moment, with a mighty explosion that threw Kaldur off the roof, and to the hard ground, where he lay for a moment, stunned.

Then, from inside the bunker came a long, low howl that made Kaldur's head snap up, along with Nightwing and Robin's. A giant silver wolf jumped out of a nearby window, shattering the glass and landing a few feet away from where Kallik had sat up, rubbing her head.

Reese growled low in her throat, and Kaldur could see Kallik's eyes widen in fright. Good, the woman deserved to be scared. After what she had done to Reese, Aqualad was tempted to just send Kallik to the bottom of the sea, and let her sleep with the fishes. 

"You-you're supposed to be dead," Kallik managed to stammer as Silver X crept closer. "How are you  _alive_?" If Reese had been human, Kaldur knew the girl from Keystone would've smirked.

"[Let's see how loud you can scream.]" Aqualad heard the wolf growl, and that was when he realized that Reese's eyes were pure silver, no brown in sight. Nightwing must've noticed as well because Dick Grayson suddenly took one of his eskrima sticks and lobbed the baton at Silver's feet, where it knocked into Reese's ankles and made her skid across the ground a good thirty-five feet.

Kaldur heard Kallik heave a big sigh a relief as she realized that she was no longer in danger. That is, until Nightwing delivered a solid right hook to Kallik's face, knocking Kallik out cold. Again.

Aqualad was still a little peeved that Nightwing seemed to be in love with Reese, but that conversation could wait for another time. For now, Reese needed help. 

Dick

Nightwing's heart clenched as he watched Aqualad rush up and embrace Reese once the girl's primal nature had receded. Of course, Dick was glad that Reese was okay, who wouldn't be? But, watching her hug Kaldur as her life depended on it was a little hard on his heart.

"At least she's okay though, right?" Jason asked carefully. Dick sighed because he knew Batman's youngest bird had a point. The fact that Silver was alive was what was most important. Not Nightwing's newfound feelings, because vigilantes in Gotham weren't supposed to have feelings. Wasn't that what Bruce was always telling him? That the  _mission_ was most important.

"Yeah," he told Jason finally. "Yeah, you're right. I'm sure there's someone out there for me, right?" Dick didn't need to take Robin's mask off to know that Jason was looking at him with the utmost sympathy.

"Don't worry D," Jason said quietly. "You'll find someone, I'm sure of it," As the two of them started to walk back to the Batplane, Dick reached out and ruffled Jason's hair, messing up the two, perfectly styled cowlicks. Sometimes Jay was way too wise for his young age.

"Where'd you learn to be so wise about love?" Nightwing asked, voicing his thoughts. Jason shrugged and answered simply.

"Alfred."

Before Dick could walk up the ramp to the Batplane though, a voice from behind made Dick freeze in his tracks.

"Nightwing? Nightwing!" It was Reese. She was running towards him, her boots hitting the ground in soft thuds. Schooling his face into an indifferent expression, Dick turned around to face the shapeshifter in front of him.

"What is it, Silver?" He smiled softly as he watched Reese bend over for a moment to catch her breath.

"I was...talking to...Aqualad, and he said that it was your idea to draw out Weather Wizard and make him shock the antenna?" Nightwing's eyes widened.

"He said that?" he managed to ask, and Reese nodded quickly.

"Yeah. Apparently, it was also your plan that made reviving me a possibility in the first place?" Dick felt his cheeks begin to heat up, and he was suddenly very glad that his cheeks were already pink from the cold.

"Uh, yeah. That's me! Nightwing, master planner," Reese laughed, and Dick couldn't help but notice that it sounded like a chorus of bells. Lilting, and musical.

"All I wanted to say Nightwing," she suddenly leaned in and pecked him on the cheek, making Nightwing's face burn even more. "was 'thank you'. You saved my life." On that note, Reese turned back around and walked into the Bioship, leaving a stunned bird in her wake.

Or at least, he  _was_ stunned, until he was suddenly pressed up against the side of the Batplane, staring into the almost completely black eyes of Kaldur.

"Stay.  _Away_ from her," he growled, Aqualad's voice sounding less like an Atlantean and more like a wild animal. "I know you have feelings for Reese, but she is  _mine_." Dick didn't have time to dwell on how the hell Aqualad knew about that. Nightwing just brought his feet up and thrust them against Kaldur's chest, throwing him back. Dropping to the ground, Dick rubbed his now sore throat.

"No problem," he said simply. "I don't put her in danger as you do. Remember Coast City? And Keystone?" It was a low blow, but frankly, Dick didn't care. Kaldur's pupils dilated even more, but before Aqualad could throw himself at Nightwing, the vigilante simply walked up the Batplane's ramp.

"Don't worry, Kaldur," he said. "You can have Reese  _all_ to yourself. Just don't make me tell you 'I told you so' once she figures out how unstable  _your_ emotions are. Goodbye, Aqualad." Then, Dick pressed the button that shut the door, sealing him and Jason off from Kaldur's still seething face. After the door was securely closed, Nightwing leaned his head against the door and heaved a breath. That had been too close.

"Hey, Dick, you okay?" Jason called from the cockpit. Dick walked in and stared at Jason for a moment before he spoke.

"I'm pretty sure I just pissed off an already jealous Atlantean," Jason spun around in his chair when Nightwing spoke.

"Well, that can't be good. What'd you do?" Dick just threw his hands up in exasperation.

"That's just it!" he cried in exasperation. "I didn't  _do_  anything! Kaldur just can't help but be a jealous prick!" Jason took off his mask, and Dick saw the single raised eyebrow on the child's face.

"Maybe  _you're_ the one that's jealous?" he asked innocently. Dick just grumbled. Of  _course_ , he was jealous of Reese and Kaldur. Of what they  _had_. But, that didn't mean Jason need to rub it in his face. Jason tsked, jerking Nightwing from his thoughts.

"I think you, dear Grayson, need a talk with Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne's personal relationship advisor." Dick just snorted in response. Why would  _Bruce Wayne_ , billionaire playboy, need a  _relationship advisor_? Nevertheless, it  _was_ a good idea. Alfred always did give the best advice.

"Ugh,  _fine_ ," he grumbled finally. "I'll talk to Alfred. But,  _only_ , once we get back to the cave. Understood?" Jason nodded quickly and gave Dick a mock-salute. 

"Yes, sir!" Nightwing just chuckled.

"Silly bird."

"Hey!" Robin cried out indignantly as they took off. "At least  _I'm_ not the one who's in love with an older woman." Dick almost crashed the Batplane.

" _Jason_!" Robin only cackled gleefully in response.


	14. Chapter 13...Or In Which Dick Admits His Feelings(To His Butler)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick talks to Alfred; the Leech holds Lauren hostage in Central City, and Reese ends up in the hospital, where she and Nightwing share a bittersweet moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, here's an update three days early! Reese is soo oblivious, I kind of feel bad for Dick. But, I swear it gets better in the sequel. Yes, I said sequel! Read the endnotes to find out more.

**Batcave; October 21st, 14:00 EST**

Dick

He'll admit it, Dick _kinda sorta_ put off talking to Alfred for two months, but, in his defense, the Team _had_ been busy. They'd finally found out what D.A.W.N Academy was, after digging deeper into the production of Silver X, which, it turned out, was created in a collaboration with Lex Luthor and Amanda Waller. _Great_. Anyway, D.A.W.N Academy seemed to be a villainous recruitment center for the children of famous villains.

There was Malcolm and Molly Crane, the twin son and daughter of Jonathan Crane, aka Scarecrow. Scarecrow suddenly had two new sidekicks named Phobos and Tainta. Then, Evaline Nygma, better known as the Riddleress, daughter of the evasive Riddler. Gracie Bee, the daughter of Queen Bee, who had the same powers of enthrallment as her mother. Peter Isley, son of Poison Ivy, with the same control over plants, acting under the alias Poison Oak. Brynnley Thawne, Velocity, and O'Shay, of course, and...

Luke Racer. The Leech, and Silver X's worst enemy. Dick clenched his fists as he flipped through the file that the Team had found at CADMUS, stopping when he reached Luke's page. CADMUS. Where Reese and Kaldur had...no, better to  _not_ think about that. 

"Luke Racer, born December 16th, 1991, Coast City General," Nightwing was talking to himself as he spun around slowly in Bruce's chair in the Batcave. The Dark Knight was still at Wayne Enterprises and would be for the next few hours, so he couldn't very well tell Dick to stop. Well, maybe he  _could_ , he probably had cameras stashed all over the place. Before Dick could do anything, a British voice from behind made Nightwing's head snap up.

"Master Dick, I don't believe Master Bruce would be very pleased to know you've been spinning in his chair," Alfred said as he walked up, carrying a tray that held a plate of cookies and two mugs of hot cocoa. Dick could feel his mouth watering. He hadn't eaten anything since lunch, and he'd been reading through files since then, and he was famished. But, before Dick could grab a cookie, Alfred swiped the tray from right under his nose.

"Wha-" Dick tried to sputter, but Alfred remained unmovable.

"There will be no cookies for you, Master Dick until you tell me your relationship woes," Dick groaned. He should've known this was coming. He and Robin had gotten back from Alaska just under two months ago, and to be honest, Nightwing had been procrastinating over talking to Alfred about his "situation" with Reese.

"Did Jason talk to you?" Dick asked finally, turning around so he wouldn't have to face the British butler.

"Young Master Jason is just worried about you," Alfred said, setting the tray down. Dick glanced at it and reached for a cookie, but Alfred slapped his hand away. Instead, Alfred handed Dick a steaming mug of hot chocolate, which Nightwing took, albeit reluctantly. 

"He doesn't have anything to be worried about," Dick grumbled as he took a sip. "It's not like anything's going to change. Even if I do come to you with my 'relationship woes', as you call them, Reese will still be dating Kaldur. There isn't anything I can do about it," Alfred hummed for a moment before he spoke again.

"Maybe it's not about what Reese and  _Kaldur_ have, maybe it's what Reese and  _Dick Grayson_ don't," Nightwing took off his mask and glanced at Alfred from the corner of his eye, a single eyebrow raised.

" _How_ is that supposed to make me feel better exactly?" Alfred sighed and shook his head as if Dick wasn't understanding something completely obvious.

"Master Dick, Reese is your friend, correct?" Dick nodded vigorously.

"Of course,"

"And does she know that you are in love with her?" Dick shook his head, kind of sheepish.

"No," he mumbled. Alfred nodded again.

"Does Aqualad know you are in love with Reese?" Nightwing felt his body tense when Alfred set a comforting hand on his shoulder, but he eventually sighed and nodded.

"Yeah," he said softly. "Yeah, he does."

"Then do whatever you can to patch things up with Kaldur. If Reese is your friend, Aqualad should have no qualms against you hanging out with his girlfriend. As  _friends_ , of course." Dick nodded, starting to see what Alfred was getting at.

"Right," he said finally. "As friends. Can I have a cookie now?" Alfred chuckled and nudged the tray towards the older of Bruce Wayne's wards. Nightwing managed to scarf down three chocolate chip cookies before he needed to breathe, and he saw Alfred gazing at him with a soft smile on his old face.

"What?" he asked once he had swallowed. Alfred shook his head.

"It is nothing. Just seeing you so entranced with young Miss Reese reminded me of my own wife. We were young, but it seemed like true love. You  _will_ find someone to compliment your own heart, Master Richard. I'm sure of it." Dick gave a small smile in return.

"Funny, that's exactly what Jason said. Thanks, Alfred." The elderly butler smiled.

"I do what I can," Suddenly, an alert went off on the Batcomputer, and Dick turned back towards the screen, only to gasp, stand up, and abruptly run off towards the Zeta tube.

**Recognized Nightwing B01**

Once he was gone, Alfred glanced at the Batcomputer to see the alert that had made Master Bruce's ward run from the room so quickly. The British butler brought a hand to his mouth when he read the headline on the Central City News.

**Leech Holding Hostages In Central City Home**

The picture was that of the house of Jay and Joan Garrick, where Miss Reese's younger sister Lauren was staying, after that tragedy with the girls' parents. Alfred thought that Lauren would be a good friend to young Master Jason if Reese ever decided to bring her to the Manor.

Another thing, if Alfred remembered correctly, and he was hardly ever wrong, though this time he hoped it wouldn't be the case, was that Miss Reese had gone, alone, to visit her sister. Apparently, dying in Alaska had caused Reese to "appreciate the little things in life", as Richard had said.

"Oh, dear," Alfred breathed as he watched the live feed from the Batcomputer. "Please hurry, Master Dick. Reese needs you."

**Central City; October 21st, 14:35 CST**

Dick ran out of the Zeta tube, only to be stopped by the Flash as he and Wally stood off to the side, watching in horror as Luke exited the house, holding Lauren Michaels by the collar of her jacket.

"Where's Reese?" Nightwing burst out. Wally shook his head.

"We don't know. She wasn't in the house. That's why Luke brought Lauren outside, to draw Reese in." Suddenly, there was a commotion on the far side of the crowd, and Nightwing's attention caught it in time to hear a familiar voice cry out.

"You have to let me through!" It was Reese. The CCPD officer was apparently a newbie because he didn't know how persuasive Reese could be when she needed to do something. Dick knew that from personal experience.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, ma'am," the officer said calmly. "This is a restricted area, and I can't very well let you-"

"That's my  _sister_!" Reese cried out and ducked under the barrier before the cop could do anything, much to Nightwing and Wally's horror.

"What is she  _doing_?" Nightwing hissed as Reese walked calmly towards the Leech. "Where's Aqualad?" he asked Wally. KF shrugged.

"Mission with Aquaman," he answered. "Won't be back for the next couple of days." A sudden gasp from the crowd made Nightwing's head snap up.

" _No_!" he cried as his gaze landed on the doorway just in time to see Luke grab Reese's throat with an ungloved hand.

Dick's blood ran cold as he watched Reese's skin turn gray in a matter of seconds. Dick watched as Reese's eyes rolled back in her head. Dick watched as she fell to the ground and Lauren screamed. Then, he saw red.

Reese

Reese didn't know what she was expecting when she turned the corner on the Garricks' street after running to the post office to mail a letter for Joan. It certainly wasn't a crowd of fifty and a _police barricade_.

"What's going on?" she asked one of the people standing on the edge of the crowd.

"There's some creepy guy with gloves holding a young girl hostage at 113." 113? Reese gasped. That was the Garricks'. And the man with gloves?  _Luke_. Reese began pushing through the crowd, not bothering to apologize, because all that was going through her head was a single name.

 _Lauren, Lauren, Lauren._ Was she okay? Had Luke hurt her? If he had,  _so_ help her, Reese would not let anything stand in her way. Except, maybe a police officer.

"Sorry ma'am, it's a restricted area back there. Can't let you through." Reese rolled her eyes.

"That's my sister!" she cried before she ducked under the cop's arm and ran towards the Leech.

"Luke!" Reese cried before she could stop herself, and the Leech's mouth grew into a wide grin that very distinctly reminded Reese of the Joker.

"Well, look who it is," he smirked. "It's little Reese. To what do I owe this pleasure?" Reese walked closer, holding her hands up in what she hoped was a gesture of peace.

"You want me, Luke," she said. "Not Lauren. Let my sister go." Luke seemed to contemplate it for a moment before the Leech sighed and practically threw Lauren towards her sister. As soon as she was safe, Reese quickly ran her hands down the sides of Lauren's face, checking for any injuries.

"Are you okay?" she asked her sister breathlessly. "He didn't hurt you?" Lauren shook her head, and Reese breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't know what she would've done if Luke, the Leech, had done anything to hurt Lauren. Lauren was the only family Reese had left. She didn't know what she would do if Lauren had been hurt, or  _worse_...

A hand was suddenly around Reese's throat, and she was lifted into the air to stare into the eyes of Luke Racer. Reese was starting to  _seriously_ hate this guy. She could feel her energy ebbing away, and everything went out of focus for a second before returning, then blurring again.

"You're right, Reese," Luke hissed as the rest of the crowd gasped. "I  _do_ want you. I want you dead," On the edges of her hearing, Reese could've sworn she heard someone shouting. It sounded like...Nightwing? What was Dick doing here? Shouldn't he have been in Gotham, with Batman and Jason? Why was Nightwing all the way out in Central City?

The last sensation Reese felt before blacking out was a rush of wind that meant a speedster had caught her. Wally, maybe, or even Barry. Where were they taking her?

"Hang on Reese," a voice said softly. Wally, then. "Nightwing and Aqualad would kill me if I let you die on them. Stay with me, Reese.  _Please_." Then, everything went black.

**Central City General Hospital; October 21st, 20:00 CST**

When Reese awoke, it had already begun to darken. She looked around and was surprised to find herself in a hospital room, hooked up to about ten machines that were monitoring everything from her heartbeat to how many times her fingers twitched.

Outside the room, Reese could see someone pacing, and they ran in when they heard her fidgeting. Reese was surprised to see that it was Nightwing. Dick ran over to the side of Reese's bed and knelt down so he was eye-level with her.

"How are you feeling, Reese?" he asked, and to Reese's shock, he took off his mask, leaving Dick Grayson's face on full view. His blue eyes were, for some reason, looking bluer than usual, and that was when Reese realized that Richard John Grayson had been  _crying_.

"Dick, are you okay?" she asked quietly, so no one else would hear her use his real name, and tears started leaking from the corners of his eyes. Leaning forward, Reese gently swiped the saltwater droplets from Nightwing's face.

"I-I thought we were going to lose you back there," Dick said quietly, tilting his head downward. "I thought Wally wouldn't get you to the hospital in time. I thought-" Reese cut him off by running her fingers through his black hair.

"Shh," she said softly. "I'm okay, Nightwing. I'm okay." Dick's arms were suddenly around hers, and he was hugging her with such a ferocity Reese was surprised. After a moment though, she began to hug him back.

"We're bringing Luke back to Mount Justice," Nightwing said firmly into Reese's hair. "We're not letting him hurt you again." Reese nodded and buried her nose into Dick's shoulder.

"Thank you, Richard," she said. Nightwing smiled softly before he spoke.

"Of course, Reese. You're my friend, and I care about you."

"I care about you too, Dick," Reese said. Dick's eyes saddened, and he sighed quietly. ' _Not the same way I do_ ,' he thought to himself as he settled Reese back into her bed and put his mask back on.

"The doctors are saying you can leave in the morning," he told her as he walked towards the door. "Aqualad won't be back from the Baltic Sea for a few days, so Kid Flash and I will come discharge you tomorrow, or rather, Wally West and Dick Grayson will, okay?" Reese nodded her head wearily, and Dick could see how tired she was. 

"Sounds fine. G'night, Nightwing," Dick gave her a smile over his shoulder as he stood in the doorway, the light from the hallway, and the room's dim interior only showing his shadowed silhouette.

"Goodnight, Reese."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as I said, there is a sequel for D.A.W.N Academy that I have started writing. It is called "Project Silverbird", and oh my goodness, I wrote the prologue on Thursday, already have two other chapters written, and it equals almost 11,300 words! In three days! 
> 
> The gist of the synopsis(without revealing the end of D.A.W.N Academy) is that Reese goes undercover into a crime family with Dick as her only connection to the outside world, and she has to stop a major weapons trafficking deal from going down by herself. Also, much like how Dick went from Robin to Nightwing, Reese undergoes a "vigilante change" as well, seeing as how her shifting powers are...slowly disappearing? 
> 
> I will get that up and posted as SOON as I finish the end of D.A.W.N Academy, which will hopefully be soon because I have a few ideas of future chapters, that will further define the differences between Reese's relationship with Kaldur and her relationship with Dick (Divergent fear simulation anyone?)


	15. Chapter 14...Or In Which Scarecrow Enters The Picture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reese gets discharged from the hospital and a new "healing drug" put into her system, and Barry Allen investigates a murder...of the doctor who was in a charge of Reese's care.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another early chapter because I am on a writing roll! (And procrastinating on my homework, but who needs school anyway?)
> 
> I've changed the title of this story and the series because I realized that D.A.W.N Academy really doesn't come into play all that much. It's really only Reese's origin story and her situation with Scarecrow. So, Aqualad & Silver X: D.A.W.N Academy, is now Silver X: The Rise Of The Shifter.
> 
> (Also, imagine Dr. Crane looking like the Batman Begins version)

**Central City General Hospital; October 22nd, 09:30 CDT**

Reese

At promptly nine-thirty the next morning, just as Reese was eating breakfast, a knock on the open door made her look up to find Wally and Dick standing somewhat awkwardly in the doorway, dressed in civvies, while Dick had on a pair of opaque sunglasses.

"Hey," Reese said as the two of them walked over to the side of her bed. Wally smiled.

"You feeling better?" he asked carefully as if scared she was going to turn into a wolf again and try to eat him. Truthfully, Reese was just tired.

"Yeah," she said finally. "I'm just exhausted. I guess the Leech has gotten stronger," Reese heard Dick scoff from behind her, and she turned to see the young Gothamite scowling.

" _Stronger_?" he burst out finally, startling everyone in the room. "Reese, he almost  _killed_ you! Multiple times! You can't be fine with that!" Reese whipped around, her eyes flashing silver for a moment before settling back on brown.

"I'm  _not_ fine with it,  _Dick_ ," she hissed, for the first time using Dick Grayson's nickname as an insult. "Don't you think I would remember all the times Luke has tried to kill me? All the times he put the people I love in danger. Does this scar-" she lifted the side of her hospital gown to show Nightwing the curling white scar on her ribcage. "-mean nothing? Nothing about the pain I went through?" Dick flinched at her angry words, and Wally just stood there, shell-shocked. 

The awkward silence was abruptly broken by the arrival of one of the doctors. He was younger, maybe in his early thirties, with hair styled much like Jason's, and a pair of silver rectangular glasses. He came in tapping on a clipboard, appearing concentrated, and Reese couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking about.

"Okay...Reese, is it?" he asked, and the girl in question nodded. "Hi, I'm Doctor Garry Taylor, and I think you're about ready to leave, I just need you to take one last thing." Dr. Taylor held up a small syringe that held a green-looking liquid.

"What is it?" Reese asked, a bit wary. She wasn't scared of needles, but whatever was in that shot did  _not_ look pleasant. Taylor gave a laugh that sounded a bit crazed and manic to Reese's ears, and judging from the looks on Dick and Wally's faces, they noticed it as well.

"Just a little experimental drug the techies in the lab whipped up. Don't worry, it's non-addictive, but it should speed up your healing process a bit," He went to insert the needle into Reese's arm but was stopped by Dick's hand.

"The other doctors said there was nothing physically wrong with Reese, though. Why should she need to take this 'experimental healing drug'?" The way Batman's protege put quotation marks around "experimental healing drug", Reese figured that Dick thought the whole deal was a load of bogus. Garry smiled at the teen in front of him, and Reese recognized it as the one that adults gave to kids when they were starting to lose their patience.

"What did you say your name was, again?" he asked, and Dick's eyes narrowed.

"I didn't." Reese looked from Dick to Dr. Taylor, then back to Dick, wondering if she had missed something in this whole situation. Wally looked confused, but that was nothing new. Finally, Reese sighed and pushed Dick out of the way so Taylor could reach her arm. Dick opened his mouth, presumably to protest, but Dr. Taylor inserted the needle before he could speak.

As the healing drug ran through Reese's veins, it burned. It burned like fire, and Reese had to clench her jaw so hard her lip started to bleed to keep from crying out. What was even weirder is that Garry's concoction seemed to  _glow_. It was a vivid, neon green, and it made the veins in Reese's left arm, from her elbow to her shoulder shine with an eerie green light. As Reese teetered on the edges of unconsciousness, she heard Dick crying out in the background.

"What are you doing to her?" Taylor sounded disinterested when he answered.

"I  _did_ say there might be side effects," Dick's voice was suddenly laced with venom.

"No," he said coldly. "You didn't." In a second, the pain had passed and Reese sat up with a gasp. Dick was instantly at her side, bracing a hand against her back as he helped her sit up. "You okay?" he asked her quietly and after a moment, Reese nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine just...whew, that new drug really packs a punch," In the back of her mind Reese thought she sounded a little loopy and from the look on Dick's face, he thought so too. 

"What was in that stuff?" he asked Taylor, but the doctor just waved his hand dismissively.

"The effects will wear off in a few minutes. Nothing to be scared about," Dick still looked skeptical, but the arrival of an orderly with Reese's discharge papers prevented him from saying any more, and Reese saw Dr. Taylor give an almost disgusted look to the assistant before he slipped out before the orderly could say anything to him, almost as if he didn't want to be seen. 

As it were, Reese's discharge from the hospital was fairly easy, seeing as how her parents were, well, dead, Dick just used a signature from Bruce Wayne as a means to let the doctors let Reese leave.  As they were walking across a parking lot towards where Alfred was waiting, a flash of movement caught Reese's attention, and she looked up in time to see  _Luke_ or something that looked like Luke, standing beside a parked car. Reese blinked, and he was gone.

"You're  _sure_ that the Leech is back at Mount Justice?" she asked as they stopped next to the car and Alfred opened a door. Dick looked at her funny before sliding inside.

"Positive," he said firmly. "Why? Did you see something?" Reese shrugged before sitting next to him, with Wally on her other side.

"I don't know. I  _thought_ I did, but that was probably just me," As they drove away to pick up Lauren, nobody noticed the lone figure standing behind the car, watching as it drove away.

"You should have been very scared of that healing drug, Reese Michaels," Jonathan Crane said softly. "If the Leech isn't enough to silence you, maybe I'll just have to separate you from your friends instead? You should be very scared. Very scared indeed."

**xxxxxx**

**Central City; October 25th, 13:30 CDT**

As Barry Allen ran, slowly, out of the CSI lab at the Central City precinct, thoughts were running through the Flash's head at light-speed. Four days ago, when the Leech had taken the girl hostage at Jay and Joan's, Barry was suddenly really glad the two of them had decided to go Metropolis for the day. Even worse, when Reese Michaels, one of Wally's teammates and the new superhero Silver X had run out, eager to confront Luke Racer and protect her sister, Barry had to commend the teen on her courage, even if it almost cost her her life.

Then, when the Leech made Reese collapse and Lauren screamed in terror, the way Nightwing had snapped and attacked Luke the way he had made Barry wonder if there was something more going on between Reese and Dick Grayson than just comradery and friendship. Glancing at his watch, Barry froze when he saw what time it was. He'd had a late lunch with Iris, and hadn't realized the time.

"Aw, crap I'm late!" Barry was supposed to be at a new crime scene at Central City General at one-fifteen. It was now one-thirty. You would think that the fastest man alive would never be late. He could just run back in time and make it so he was on time, right?  _Yeah_ , that wasn't how it worked, and Barry Allen was a notorious late-comer.

"Allen!" One of the other detectives called when they saw him on the edge of the murder scene. "Get over here!" Barry sighed and headed over to where the other detective was standing by the murder victim.

"What happened?" Barry asked as he set his CSI kit on the ground. He found it a little ironic that there had been a murder at a hospital, but whatever, someone was still dead, and it was time for Barry Allen, Crime Scene Investigator, to do his job.

"He was found this morning by one of the janitors," Detective Harrison said, lifting up the tarp cover, and both of them recoiled when the corpse was revealed. Flies were buzzing around a gruesome infected wound on the victim's arm, and the rate of decay on the body made Barry wonder if the victim had been dead for more than twenty-four hours.

"Cause of death?" Barry asked finally, and Harrison flinched.

"The ME said the guy was frightened to death," Barry looked quizzically up from where he was examining the corpse's fly-eaten eyes.

" 'Frightened to death'?" he echoed. "Who is he?"

"The ME?"

"No, the victim." Harrison shrugged and took out an evidence bag that held what looked like a hospital ID card. When he finally spoke, the words chilled Barry to his core.

"The ID says he's a Dr.Garry Taylor, specialized in metahuman attacks." Garry Taylor, the same doctor who took care of Reese after Luke's attack. Wally had told him how the doctor had seemed a little sketchy, and that the "new healing drug" he'd given Reese had made her writhe in agony. Barry grabbed his phone and showed Harrison a picture Wally had sent him of the dead doctor.

"Is this him?" he asked. Harrison studied the picture for a moment before shaking his head.

"Nah, he looks similar, but they're not the same." He then showed Barry the picture on Taylor's ID. Harrison was right, Barry realized. The two "doctors" did look remarkably similar, but the one who'd looked after Reese had darker hair and glasses. 

"Taylor's been dead for just under one hundred hours," Barry finally concluded, and he sighed. That meant that whoever had introduced himself to Dick, Wally, and Reese had  _not_ been the real Doctor Garry Taylor. Barry needed to run some facial recognition on whoever this guy was because he sure as hell wasn't Garry Taylor.

**Central City Police Department; October 25th, 15:30 CDT**

When Barry walked into his lab two hours later, he had "Dr.Taylor" 's hospital ID ready. He logged into his computer and pulled up the facial recognition software the CCPD used for criminal identification. The "Fastest Man Alive" held his breath as he watched the computer scan the ID card and enter the key details into its system.

It took a few seconds to find a match, but to a speedster, it felt like forever. When the identity of the "doctor", and most likely the murderer of the real Garry Taylor finally loaded, Barry swore softly under his breath. 

There, on the laptop's screen was a man, not of the Flash's adversaries, but of Batman's. Guess he really was a doctor, just not the humane kind. Dr.Jonathan Crane. Scarecrow. Just as Barry was about to call Bruce and tell him the news, one of the lab technicians from the Medical Examiner's office ran into the CSI lab, waving one of his lab reports. Barry set his phone down and turned towards the other man.

"What is it, Roger?" he asked, and the just-out-of-college-age kid took a few moments to catch his breath before he spoke.

"I...analyzed...Dr. Taylor's blood, and do you want to know what I found in his bloodstream?" Barry had a feeling he already knew, and he  _really_ didn't want to be right on this one.

"Was it, by any chance, a dose of Scarecrow's fear toxin?" The look on Roger's face told Barry all he needed to know.

"How'd you guess?" Barry shrugged.

"Call it a hunch," he suddenly grabbed his jacket and phone and started walking out of the lab. He needed to talk to Bruce, pronto. "Tell the Captain I'm on break. I'll be back in a few hours." When he was out of sight of the precinct, Barry quickly changed into his Flash suit and rushed to Gotham.

In ten seconds flat he was back in civvies and knocking on Bruce Wayne's front door. When Alfred opened it, the British butler quickly led the Central City CSI down into the Batcave, where Batman was working on one of his cases.

"What is it, Allen?" Bruce asked quietly, making Barry jump. He still didn't know how Bruce did that.

"We have a problem," Barry said, getting down to business. "And a common adversary." Bruce turned around in his chair to stare Barry down.

"Who?" he asked simply. The Flash perched on the edge of a nearby table, much to Batman's displeasure.

"Scarecrow."


	16. Chapter 15...Or In Which Reese Has Hallucinations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry, Wally, and Bruce hold a secret from the Team; Aqualad is still in the Baltic Sea; The side effects of Reese's "healing drug" get worse, and she almost hurts Artemis.

**Batcave; October 25th, 16:00 EDT**

"Scarecrow."

Bruce Wayne was many things. Head of Wayne Enterprises, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. _Batman_. One thing Bruce  _wasn't_ used to be being was surprised. And that was exactly what the Dark Knight of Gotham was when Barry Allen, the Flash, told him about the murder at Central City General.

"You have any proof it was Crane?" Bruce growled softly, trying to keep his temper in check. He didn't know what Dick or Jason would do if Jonathan Crane got his hands on Reese. Jason, Bruce knew, would be devastated, and would try to do whatever it took to get Reese back.

And Dick...Bruce might be a detective and used to investigating, but anyone with eyes could see how much Nightwing cared for the girl from Keystone. It probably didn't help that Batman had sent Aqualad away on a mission of his own with Aquaman to clean up an oil spill in the Baltic Sea that Bruce  _knew_ would take longer than expected. Oops.

"-facial recognition, the body at the hospital was the  _real_ Garry Taylor and a dose of injectable fear toxin that was found in the guy's bloodstream." Barry's voice jerked Bruce from his thoughts and he glanced up at the speedster in front of him.

"Did you say fear toxin?" he asked, somewhat fearful of the answer. Barry sighed grimly and nodded.

"Seems like our little cornfield monster has a new course of action," Bruce abruptly stood up and started pacing, trying to think. 

"But, why's he going after Reese?" Batman asked, half to himself.

So far, only the Leech had been the one to hunt down Silver X, so why was Scarecrow doing it now? Had Luke and Crane been in cahoots somehow? Was that how Scarecrow knew where Reese would be in Central City? He knew that Luke hadn't escaped from Mount Justice, because with daily "interrogations"  from Nightwing(which Bruce still wasn't sure he was okay with) the Leech was sure to stay in his cell for a long time.

"Ask Wally to keep an eye on Reese. Tell him to tell you if she seems a little...out of it. Like, if she starts seeing things that aren't there. Then, report it to me  _immediately_." The Flash stared at Bruce with a grim look on his face.

"You think Crane put the fear toxin in Reese's blood?" Barry asked, and Bruce sighed, then nodded. Barry ran his fingers through his hair. "What do you think we should do? If Scarecrow captures Reese, then Nightwing will-" Bruce cut him off with a raised hand.

"I know what Dick will do," he said simply. "Which is why we're not going to tell the Team about this." Barry looked at Batman in a state of shock.

"What?" he cried. "What do you mean we aren't going to tell the Team? Bruce, if Dick finds out, he'll-" He abruptly shut his mouth when Bruce sent him a patented Batglare.

"I  _know_ what Dick will do if he finds out, which is why we aren't going to  _tell_ him." Bruce didn't  _really_ want to keep this big of a secret from Nightwing and Robin, but when Dick's sanity and morals were concerned, it deemed necessary. "Just...talk to Wally," he said finally. "Ask him if anything weird is going on with Reese.  _Please_ , Barry." It wasn't often that Bruce Wayne asked something of someone, but when he did, it was usually serious.

Barry seemed to grasp the gravity of the situation because the Flash just nodded before he was gone in a streak of red lightning. Bruce sighed and turned back towards the Batcomputer, rubbing a crease between his eyebrows as the beginnings of a migraine started to form in his head.

"Master Bruce, may I ask that you don't keep this from Master Dick and Master Jason for too long?" Alfred's voice sounded from the stairs, and Bruce looked up to find his butler staring at him with an understanding look etched on his elderly British face. "The last time you kept something like this from your young wards, it did not end well."

Bruce inwardly flinched as he remembered when he didn't tell Dick and Jason about his mission hunting down Killer Croc, that ended with Croc still on the loose and Batman in Mount Justice's infirmary with a broken femur and six bruised ribs.

"I  _will_ tell them," Bruce said softly. "eventually. Once I know why Scarecrow is hunting Reese, I will tell the Team." Alfred raised an eyebrow.

"And Master Dick?"

"I'll tell Nightwing when I tell the Team."

"If you're sure then, Master Bruce."

**Central City; October 25th, 20:00 CDT**

Wally

As Wally sped into his house after hanging out with Dick for the day, he was shocked to see Barry standing in his living room, dressed in full Flash gear. That was when Wally noticed that one of his mom's work friends was sitting on their couch, looking absolutely shocked to have a superhero in the same room as her.

"Hey,  _Flash_ ," Wally said carefully, watching Dayna Gerder's every move. Wally's mom had never told her coworker about their family's speed, so he had to be careful about how much he divulged.

"Wallace West?" Barry asked, and Wally shot his uncle a scowl. Not funny. Barry just smirked. "There's a situation in Gotham City concerning one of your classmates, and Batman asked me to speak with you," Wally raised an eyebrow. 

"Who?" he asked simply, and for a moment, it seemed like Barry  _flinched_ , like he almost didn't want to tell him.

"Reese Michaels." Wally felt his eyes widen, and he could almost hear his heart start beating faster. Something was wrong with Reese? If Dick found out-

"Wally? Are you okay?" His mother's voice jerked him from his thoughts, and he looked up to find everyone staring at him.

"What? Oh, yeah I'm fine. You said there was something up about Reese?" Barry nodded. 

"Have you noticed anything...off, about Reese lately in any of your  _extracurriculars_?" Wally knew that Barry couldn't reveal too much about Wally's acts as Kid Flash, but the way he phrased it made him sound like some kind of a prude.

"Not particularly, no," Wally answered quickly, but after he thought about it for a moment, Wally remembered something Reese had said after he, Dick, and Alfred had picked Reese up at the hospital. "Wait!" he cried as the Flash was getting ready to run off. "There was  _one_ thing that sounded strange when Reese said it."

"Which is?" Wally had to think for a moment on how to phrase his wording without giving away that he was a superhero.

"Well, you know how a few days ago Reese's sister was held hostage by the Leech?" Wally saw Dayna flinch in his peripheral, and he felt like wincing himself. When he saw Nightwing snap after Luke had sucked Reese's energy from her body, the amount of fury that had been in Dick's hits had almost been strong enough to rival _Superboy's_ when he was pissed off. Barry nodded in response to Wally's question.

"Well, when Dick Grayson and I helped discharge Reese from the hospital, Reese said that she thought she had seen Luke Racer, the Leech standing behind a car in the parking lot, but Nightwing had sworn that he was headed back to the Team's headquarters," Wally saw Barry's cowl lenses widen for a second before he spoke.

"We should discuss this more in-depth," Barry said. "Mrs. West, would it be okay if I borrowed your son for a while?" Wally's mother nodded before she led Dayna into the kitchen to give the two speedsters their privacy. As soon as she was gone, Wally whipped towards Barry.

"Okay, what's the deal? What's wrong with Reese?" Before he could blink, Wally was standing on the edge of Gotham City, where Batman was waiting. Wally tripped and fell to the ground as he stared in shock at the Gotham vigilante in front of him.

"Kid Flash," he said simply. Wally stood up, dusting his clothes off before he faced the Dark Knight.

"Batman, what's wrong with Reese?" If Wally didn't know him, Bruce would look like his expression hadn't changed. But, KF knew better than that. He was a speedster, and he could see the faster-than-thought twitches that showed all over the part of Batman's face that showed under the cowl.

He saw Bruce's jaw clench minutely. The way the gauntleted fingers seemed to tense before the Dark Knight spoke.

"Before I tell you, you need to swear to me that you will  _not_  speak to Nightwing  _or_ Robin about this," Wally opened his mouth to protest, but Bruce cut him off.

"Swear it, Wallace." Wally quickly held up his hands.

"Okay, okay!" he cried. "I swear!" Batman then beckoned the two speedsters closer and began to tell Wally his findings, well, Barry's findings. Everything from the murder at Central City General to Batman and the Flash's investigation into the whereabouts of Scarecrow in the past two months.

By the time Wally and Barry were running back to Central City an hour and a half later, thoughts were running so fast through Kid Flash's head he didn't think Barry would've been able to catch them. As they skidded to a stop at Wally's front door, Barry set his hands firmly on Wally's shoulders.

"You understand you can't tell  _anyone_ about this until Bruce says so, correct? Not even Artemis,"

"But," Wally burst out. "If there's some of Scarecrow's fear toxin in Reese's blood, then shouldn't we tell the Team? Or at least Dick and Jason?" Barry shook his head and Wally's shoulders slumped. If Dick ever found out the magnitude of the secret Wally was keeping from him, there would be no stopping him. This is Reese's  _life_ they were talking about here.

"I  _promise_ you, Wally. We  _will_ tell the Team, Nightwing, and Robin about the toxin. As soon as Bruce has developed a cure. Until then? No. Talking. Okay?" Wally wanted to protest some more, but he couldn't really see a point.

"Okay," he said finally. "No talking. Got it," Barry suddenly pulled Wally into a hug, which Kid Flash returned readily.

"We  _will_ find a cure, Walls. I promise." Wally was just wondering how long it would take to find that cure.

**Mount Justice; October 27th, 11:45 EDT**

Reese

As she and Artemis kept sparring, Reese began seeing flashes. It would be little things, she realized, of things Reese was afraid of. Spiders, a flickering lightbulb signaling the dark, and some small creepy little animatronics from a kids' pizza place in Keystone that had always terrified Reese when she was a child.

They were fairly minor and didn't really inhibit on Reese's concentration as she dodged a punch and then a consecutive kick from Artemis. That was until everything wavered and Artemis turned into Luke.

_Holding the broken body of Lauren in his arms, the Leech was grinning cruelly as the bodies of Kaldur, Dick, and Jason lay bloodied on the ground. The cave was destroyed, with M'gann, Superboy, Wally, and Artemis strung up on the wall in chains._

_They were dead. All of them._

_In the back of her mind, Reese knew that it wasn't real, that it was some way, somehow, just like the Failsafe simulation Kaldur had told her about in his first year on the Team. This was fake. It wasn't real._

_"Little, little Reese," the Artemis-Luke said scornfully, tsking in disapproval. "Couldn't save your friends, could you?" he gestured around the destroyed Mount Justice, where Miss Martian, Superboy, Kid Flash, and Artemis were hanging._

_"You're not real," Reese growled, feeling the Silver X course through her veins. "None of you are real," Luke chuckled._

_"Aren't we though?" he asked, before dropping Lauren and charging at Reese. Reese quickly held up her hands to defend herself but was swiped aside by his giant hand. He drove her into the ground, snapping her head against the stone, making Reese see stars._

** xxxxxx **

**Recognized Nightwing B01, Kid Flash B03**

**xxxxxx**

_"You couldn't save your friends," Another head-slam into the ground, "Your family," another head-slam. "The people you love!" Suddenly, Luke snapped Reese's head up and nosed his way across her jaw bone, making Reese shudder in disgust. He then leaned closer and spat in her face._

_"If I killed you now, no one would miss you..."_

"Artemis, what's going on?" Nightwing.

"I don't know!" That was Artemis. "We were sparring, and she just...collapsed like that!"

"Why are her eyes glowing green?" Wally asked before he gave a sharp gasp. "No. No, no, no! He hasn't made a cure yet! This can't happen!"

_"If I killed you, no one would miss you," Luke growled. "You'd just be another casualty, another tick on the Team's failures..."_

"Wally, what are you talking about?" Dick, again. "What 'cure'?" Without answering, Kid Flash suddenly sped away and came back with an IV used for blood transfusions. He knelt down by Reese's convulsing form.

"Nightwing, what's your blood type?"

Uh, O positive, why?"

"Good, I need you to give Reese some."

"What?"

_"You'd be another casualty. One of the Team's failures." Reese was crying now as Luke pulled her up roughly._

_"I will not be...a failure," Reese bit out through gritted teeth, struggling to keep the X at bay. Luke scoffed and turned away, tilting his head down towards Lauren's body._

_"_ Now, Nightwing!"

_"Aren't you though?" he asked as Reese struggled to her feet, holding her ribs gingerly. The Silver X was just below the surface, waiting impatiently to be released. "You couldn't save your sister, your boyfriend, the two others who love you most," That was it. Reese snapped, and her eyes flew open a full metallic silver. Quickly shifting into her tiger, Reese flew at Luke, a roar rumbling in her throat, and everything went back to normal._

Luke turned back into Artemis, an archer with a now terrified expression on her face as Reese slammed into her, scattering everyone. Reese tried to rein it in, tried to push the X back into the recesses of her mind, but it was too late. The Silver X was fully in control, feeding off of Reese's anger towards the Leech, and her fear of losing everyone that she cared about.

"Artemis!" Wally and Dick cried as Artemis and Reese fell to the ground. 

"[ _Help_ me.]" Reese growled, but seeing as how Aqualad was still in the Baltic Sea for who knows how much longer, nobody could understand her. Reese could feel the beginnings of a tiger roar thundering in her throat, and she tried to stop it, tried to stop Artemis from going completely deaf, and most likely killing her.

Just as she was opening her jaw to roar, Reese was tackled to the side by Nightwing, and all that came out was a small whimper. Dick stared down at Reese as she shifted back to human, eyes still a glowing silver.

"Calm  _down_ Argent," Reese heard Dick whisper. She wondered what was with the nickname all of a sudden, but it seemed to work, and Reese's eyes turned a deep chocolate brown again. The sudden force of a major headache hit Reese's head, and she grabbed it in pain. "Reese, you okay?" she heard Nightwing ask, and Reese wearily nodded.

"I'm fine, just have a major headache." she turned towards Dick and gave him a small smile. "Thanks, Bluebird." To her surprise, Dick flushed a bright cherry red and Wally began to snicker. Reese tried to stand, but her legs gave out and Dick had to catch her.

Nightwing wrapped one arm around Reese's waist and hoisted her left arm so it hung around his shoulders.

"You're injured, and exhausted Reese," he told her. "You need rest," Reese wanted to protest, but Dick was right, she  _was_ exhausted. Taking a major hit like that from the Leech five days ago, and getting right back into action later, hadn't been good on her sleep schedule.

"Fine," she finally relented. "Help me to my room?" Dick gave her a nod and started walking her down the corridor towards her room. Once they were out of sight, Artemis turned towards the speedster beside her. Waving her hand between Dick and Reese, she asked,

"Are they...?" Wally shook his head.

"No. But they totally should be. In my opinion, Nightwing complements Reese a lot more than Aqualad does," With that, Artemis and Kid Flash headed towards the Zeta tube, leaving Nightwing and Silver X alone in the cave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Argent" and "Bluebird" will come into play a lot in the sequel... and my Argent has no connection to the one from the Teen Titans Comics, and Bluebird is NOT Harper Row...obviously. It's just Dick's nickname for Reese and vice versa.
> 
> I think we are nearing the end. Maybe three or four more chapters and an epilogue, and then I will post Project Silverbird.
> 
> -FreedomWhistle


	17. Chapter 16...Or In Which Nightwing Investigates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nightwing finds out about the toxin; Reese has a fever; Robin, Nightwing, and Silver X look into a "suicide", and Scarecrow prepares to make his move

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween, everybody! Even if you don't celebrate this amazing holiday for whatever reason, here's a special update for you guys! BTW, Wilmer is a seriously creepy and perverted dude, no wonder Nightwing doesn't like him.

**Mount Justice; October 27th, 13:30 EDT**

Dick

With Reese resting in her room and the rest of the Team off doing various activities, Nightwing was finally free to do a little investigating of his own. Ever since Reese had had that "healing drug" put into her system in Central City, Dick had compiled a list of all the new metahuman-attack related drugs put out into service, and not one of them was bright green and acted like the one Reese had been given had. So what had Garry Taylor given to Reese?

Dick scratched his head thoughtfully as he skimmed article after article on the cave's holo-computer, everything from Taylor's most recent achievement(award in scientific medicine) to his obituary...wait.  _Obituary_? Nightwing swiped back a few files to the one that had caught his attention.

' **Award-Winning Doctor Murdered At Central City General Hospital, October 20th** '

Dick scanned the article and clenched his fists when he recognized the name of the CSI who had worked the case. Barry Allen, the Flash. Apparently, the doctor had been dead  _before_ Reese had been attacked by the Leech and that meant that whoever had given Reese that shot  _hadn't_ been Garry Taylor.

If not Taylor, who was he? Dick quickly pulled up a secret picture he had snapped of the "doctor" when they'd been at the hospital and plugged it into some facial recognition software. As it scanned the database, Nightwing waited with bated breath for the software to find a match. When it finally did, Dick stood in shock and horror. Fitting really, considering who they were dealing with. Jonathan Crane. Scarecrow.

Nightwing quickly tapped his comm to send a direct link to Kid Flash. When Wally answered, Dick growled into the earpiece,

"Did you know?" He could almost feel Wally's uneasiness through their comms.

"Know what?" Wally asked, his voice raising up an octave on the last word. Dick rolled his eyes behind his mask and clenched his fists even harder, so hard his nails began to dig into his palm.

"Don't play dumb with me, KF. Did you, or did you not, know that Jonathan Crane, aka _Scarecrow_ , was the one hunting down Reese?" There was silence for a moment, before Wally said, all in one breath,

"Batman said I couldn't tell you until he found a cure, because he  _knew_ you were going to react like this, and I told him, oh did I tell him,"

"Bruce knew?" Dick asked quietly, struggling to hold his temper in check. If Bruce knew about this, and he hadn't  _told_ him about it, they were going to have words. All that answered Dick's question was Wally's breathy,

"Aw crap, he's gonna kill me," Before Dick could say anything more, a crash sounded from down the corridor, and Nightwing's head snapped up.

"I gotta go," he said quickly, cutting off Wally's reply. He turned off his commlink and jogged down the hallway towards Reese's room, where he found the girl from Keystone writhing in her bed, the sheets tangled at her feet.

"Reese?" he called quietly, instantly at her side. Dick could see the fear toxin in Reese's veins glowing a bright neon green. Nightwing growled at the thought that he had let Crane get close enough to Reese to put it in her veins.

"No!" Reese's cry jerked Dick from his thoughts, and he looked back towards her in time to see a sheen a sweat begin to glisten on her forehead. Dick whipped off his glove and ran the back of his hand along the side of Reese's face, and was surprised to find that it was burning up. There were no compresses in Reese's room, and the kitchen was too far away to leave Reese alone for too long.

Dick glanced towards Reese's bathroom, bit his lip, then tore off his mask. Screw it. Reese's fever needed to break, pronto, and if sticking her in the shower was what was going to do it, then so be it. He just  _really_ hoped that Kaldur wouldn't kill him for this. 

Gently lifting Reese into his arms, Nightwing carried her into the small bathroom and set her on the toilet, before opening the shower door and turning on the water to the coldest setting. After he was satisfied, Dick picked Reese up again and stood under the spray with her still shivering in his arms. After a couple of minutes, Nightwing's commlink buzzed, making Dick jump and almost slip and fall to the floor.

"Yes?" he asked, and almost fell  _again_ when he heard Bruce's voice filter through.

"Batman to Nightwing. Kid Flash told me you found out about Scarecrow. Are you okay?" Dick glanced down at Reese, then up at the showerhead that was still running.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he said. "Just wondering why you brought Wally into it and told him not to tell me about it," He heard Bruce sigh, and Dick shifted Reese in his arms so he could hold her better.

"I didn't want to risk any- Nightwing, are you in the shower?" Dick tensed up. This could end badly, or it wouldn't be based entirely on how Nightwing phrased his next words.

"Uh, yeah?" Dick hated how he sounded unsure about it, and Bruce's next words didn't help.

"Where's Reese?" In Nightwing's arms, Reese was still sleeping, somehow, and wasn't about to move, unless Dick fell, which he  _really_ didn't want to do. "Nightwing?" Bruce asked again, and Dick heaved a sigh before he spoke.

"So, uh, Reese had a fever, and I didn't want to leave her alone for too long, so, uh..." He trailed off, and Dick swore he could almost  _hear_ Batman's smirk on the other end.

"You're showering with Reese?" In the background of his commlink, Nightwing could hear someone choking. Probably because they were laughing so hard. Dick could feel his face burn up.

"Not like  _that_!" he cried. "By the way, who's there with you?" Suddenly a familiar voice took the place of Batman's, and Dick cringed. Wally.

" _So_ ," Kid Flash snickered. "You having fun?" Dick growled, and he could hear Wally make a small 'eep' noise in his ear.

"She's  _sick_ , KF. I needed a way to break her fever. Tell me you wouldn't do the same thing if it was Artemis," Wally tsked.

"See, that's the thing. Artemis and I are  _actually_ dating. You and Reese, on the other hand..." Dick sighed.

"Are you done, KF? Because Batman needs me for something, otherwise he wouldn't have called," Bruce spoke again, and to say Nightwing was glad that Kid Flash had stopped talking would have been an immense understatement.

"Nightwing, you and Silver X are needed at Gotham U. There have been several reports of student 'suicides' matching Scarecrow's MO. Kid Flash, Artemis, and Robin will meet you on site. Oh, and Dick?" Batman asked just as Nightwing was going to hang up.

"Yeah?"

"Remember that  _I_ was the one who sent Aqualad to the Baltic Sea," he heard Wally cackling in the background for a moment, before the line cut out, signaling both Kid Flash and Batman had hung up.

"Bruce?" Dick asked after processing what he had said. "Bruce, that's not funny!" But it was no use. Batman had hung up on him.

**Gotham University, Gotham City; October 27th, 15:00 EDT**

Reese

**Recognized Nightwing B01, Silver X B10**

As Silver X and Nightwing stepped out of the closest Zeta tube to Gotham U, which was situated on the edge of campus, Reese noticed that Dick's face had had a permanent flush to it ever since she had woken up from her restless nap. She didn't think anything had happened, but she couldn't  _really_ remember anything after Nightwing had helped her to her room.

"Hey, Nightwing, you okay?" she asked and set a hand on his shoulder as they neared the library, the most recent site of a suicide. When she spoke, Dick jolted, as if he'd been electrocuted, before he glanced at Reese and gave her a small smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, you just kind of scared me when you had that fever earlier..." he trailed off, and Reese glanced at Dick from the corner of her eye. As she said, Reese couldn't remember everything that had happened after her episode while sparring with Artemis, but she seemed to recall something about freezing cold water. Reese just wasn't sure what it was.

"What exactly  _happened_ when I had that fever?" Reese asked. "I don't remember much, but there was something about water." This time, Dick really did fall, off of the curb and into a muddy puddle left over from the thunderstorm the night before. As he sat up, spluttering, Reese held out a hand.

"Are you  _sure_ you're okay?" she asked him as they walked up to where Artemis, Kid Flash, and Robin were waiting with a Gotham PD officer by a tarp-covered body.

"I'm fine," Nightwing murmured before turning towards the cop. "What happened here?" he asked. The officer was young, maybe twenty-four, and he looked like he was about to be sick. Silver X stepped forward and set a hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay," Reese told him softly. "Take your time." The cop nodded and took a deep breath before he spoke. Reese stepped back and saw Dick staring at her from the corner of his mask. "What?" she whispered to him as the cop started talking. 

"Nothing," he whispered back. "Just noticed that you have a way with people. Making them calm, I mean." Reese shrugged nonchalantly and glanced over to where the police officer was just going to lift up the tarp.

"I guess I've always been able to do it. Lauren got really bad anxiety when she was younger, and whenever my parents were working, I'd be the only one home and the only one able to calm her down." 

"Separation anxiety?" Nightwing asked as he watched the police officer lift the tarp. Reese shook her head.

"Not exactly. It was more like-" Reese broke off as she caught sight of the person underneath the tarp. To be honest, the girl looked a lot like Reese herself, only taller and with shoulder-length strawberry blonde hair. Worse, Reese knew her.

"The victim is a college senior named Evie Enderle. Majoring in Business Management, everyone who knew her said she wouldn't normally be one to commit suicide."

"Because she wasn't," Reese's voice cut through the sudden chatter that had erupted when the police officer finished speaking. As everyone looked towards her with equally quizzical and confused looks on their faces, Reese took a deep breath.

"Evie wouldn't do something like this. She could be stressed at times sure, what with all of her deadlines and things like that. But, she always managed to complete her homework on time, and her friends always said she still found time to have fun," By now everyone was staring at Silver X with equally sized confusion on their faces.

"You're talking like you knew her," Nightwing said quietly. Reese shuddered for a moment before she spoke.

"Because I do. Or did, at least," she glanced up to meet Dick's eyes for a moment before Silver X gave away one key detail of her identity. "She's my cousin."

**Gotham Morgue; October 27th, 18:30 EDT**

Dick

Nightwing, Robin, and Silver X stood in the office of the Gotham City Medical Examiner, watching as he typed a few notes on his desktop before turning to face them. He was middle-aged, with graying black hair and a goatee.

"Silver X, you say Evie Enderle was your cousin?" Dick glanced at Reese from the corner of his eye and noticed the tenseness of her shoulders and the faint quivering that showed when Reese spoke.

"Yes. Evie Enderle was in fact, my second cousin. She was my mother's first cousin," Dr. Wilmer gave a soft smile that didn't  _quite_ seem to reach his eyes.

"Then, I offer your family my condolences," Dick saw Reese smile hesitantly back, but he was more focused on studying Dr.Wilmer. Nightwing couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something off about him that didn't sit well with Dick. Maybe it was just the small scarecrow plushie that was sitting on the bookshelf behind Wilmer's desk.

"You a fan of Scarecrow?" he asked coldly, and Wilmer's eyes snapped up to meet his. For a second, fear seemed to show in them, before it was replaced with contempt.

"Who do you take me for, Nightwing?" he asked. "I may have a scarecrow plushie on my shelf, but that is only because I grew up on a farm outside of Smallville. I'm not  _working_ for him if that's what you were insinuating. I'm much more of a Silver X fan, instead." The way Wilmer's eyes glittered for a moment made Nightwing's lip curl in disgust. Before he could explode though, Reese placed one hand on his chest and the other flat on Wilmer's desk.

"Is it okay if I come back later as my civilian self to properly say goodbye to Evie?" Dick's head snapped to stare at Reese, and he knew Jason was doing the same thing. To make matters worse, Wilmer just gave a small smile that made Dick's skin crawl.

"Of course, Silver. Until the proper funeral arrangements can be made, you and any member of your family will be welcome here at any time," Reese nodded gratefully before she and Robin walked out.

"Nightwing, you coming?" Jason called. Nightwing, without breaking eye contact with Wilmer, tilted his head.

"Yeah, I'll only be a moment, Robin!" When Jason had left, Dick turned to Wilmer, domino mask lenses narrowed dangerously. Stalking forward, he pressed a single eskrima stick against Wilmer's throat. "What's your deal?" he growled. Wilmer just chuckled darkly in response.

"Whatever are you speaking of, Nightwing? Scared your little girlfriend will make a pass at me?" Nightwing pressed harder, and Wilmer's face began to turn red.

"She's  _not_ my girlfriend, and she's not yours either," he added when Wilmer opened his mouth. "So, if you know what's good for you, you'll  _Back. Off._ " With that, Dick let go and Wilmer fell to the ground with a gasp, sucking in lungfuls of air as he stared at Nightwing, horror etched on his face.

"You're insane," he said hoarsely, but Dick only smirked in response. He knelt down and grabbed Wilmer's head and brought it close to his.

"That may be, but if I  _ever_ hear you talking about Reese or looking at her like that again, I will show you what insane  _really_ is, and you won't like it. Does the name 'Arkham Asylum' sound familiar to you?" Wilmer's eyes widened in fear, and Dick abruptly let go. "Do I make myself clear?" he asked, and Wilmer nodded.

"Crystal." Nightwing nodded, and turned around to leave, before spinning back around and delivering a powerful right hook to Wilmer's jaw.

xxxxxx

After he had gone, Tony Wilmer climbed slowly up from the floor and signaled for his assistant.

"Amelia, clear my schedule for the next week." The college-age girl nodded quickly before scurrying out the door. After  _she_ was gone, Tony grabbed for his cell phone and typed in a number. A gruff voice on the other end answered almost immediately.

"Yes?"

"Dr.Crane?" Wilmer asked hesitantly, and Scarecrow spoke brusquely.

"What do you need, Wilmer?"

"The girl. The cousin of your most recent kill? She was here, and she's coming back." Scarecrow gave a deep, throaty cackle, and Wilmer couldn't help but shiver in fear.

"Excellent. Will you be there to greet her?"

"Of course, sir. I would not let you down. Though, Nightwing may be a problem,"

"Nightwing?" Crane asked. "What does he have to do with this?" Wilmer glanced around his office, wondering how to phrase his next words.

"He... _cares_ for the girl. He will not hesitate to use force when necessary,  _and_ unnecessary."

"Don't worry about the birds," Crane assured him. "I have a plan in place for them. Just focus on bringing Reese Michaels to me. Everything else will be taken care of." Wilmer nodded quickly, even though Scarecrow couldn't see him.

"Yes, sir. Of course, sir," A click signified the end of their call, and Wilmer gave a sigh before his face split into a wide, manic grin.

"Long live Scarecrow," he whispered before he began to prepare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got the inspiration for Reese's fever and "shower" with Dick from a WonderBat fic by LotsLover called Mended Hearts, after Diana is injured by some aliens Bruce brings her to the manor and in one chapter she has a terrible fever and Bruce ends up having to take a bath(fully-clothed) with her in order to break it.


	18. Chapter 17...Or In Which Bruce Plans A Party(Halloween: Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Batman has a Halloween party; Dick grows more suspicious about Wilmer; Nightwing argues with Reese, and Reese and Lauren cut through an alley

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EARLY UPDATE!!!  
> This probably would've been better to post on the thirty-first, since it takes place on Halloween, but there's no way I would've been able to post four chapters in two days, especially one this long.

**Wayne Manor; October 28th, 08:00 EDT**

Dick

The next morning, Dick ran full-tilt downstairs, only to stop short as he saw Alfred leading Reese and Lauren inside the manor. When the British butler saw Bruce's older ward standing at the bottom of the staircase, Alfred gave Dick a warm smile before beckoning him over. Dick walked carefully over to stand in front of Reese with a calculating look on his face. It took Nightwing a few moments to realize that the area around Lauren's eyes was red as if she'd been crying.

"Did you tell her?" he asked Reese quietly as Alfred led Lauren upstairs to an empty bedroom. Dick still didn't know what Reese and Lauren were doing here, but it isn't like they could just turn them away.

"Yeah, I told her. It took her a while to stop crying, but I told her what really happened. You know, with Scarecrow and all that, and I told her that Batman, Nightwing, and Robin would make it all better." Reese sent him a small smile that made Dick's heart skip a few beats before he remembered the events of yesterday. The Michaels sisters had lost  _another_ family member, only a few months after the loss of their parents. 

It seemed Dick and Reese were in the same boat in that aspect. Dick had become an orphan when his parents had died in the circus after being murdered by Tony Zucco, then today, six years later, the girl Dick Grayson loved had lost her parents, her home,  _and_ her cousin, all within three months of the others.

"Is Lauren okay?" Dick asked as he and Reese walked towards the lounge. Sitting down on a couch, Reese put her heads in her hands and gave a big sigh.

"Are any of us?" she asked. "Dick, I know what Lauren is going through, but she's been through so much at such a young age. And yes, I know you were the same way with Haly's, and _your_ parents, but I can't help but think that Lauren has suffered more." Dick didn't  _really_ need a reminder of how his parents had died, but right now he was more concerned about Reese.

"How so?" he asked, sitting down beside her. Reese gave a heaving sigh, and Dick realized that Silver X was trying not to cry. Leaning towards her, Dick wrapped an arm around Reese's shoulder and the older girl leaned into his hold, as silent sobs began to wrack her body. Dick watched silently as all of the emotion that had been pent up in Reese for the past three months came out, all at once.

"I just can't believe they're  _gone_ ," Reese whimpered. Dick turned his head to press his nose into the crown of Reese's head. She seemed shorter than usual, but maybe that was just him. Dick began to rub soothing circles on Reese's back.

"Shh," he whispered into her hair, that ironically, seemed to smell like strawberries? No, focus Dick. "It's going to be okay, Argent." Reese gave a breathy laugh and looked up at Dick through some hair that had fallen into her eyes. Dick couldn't help but think it made her look very ethereal.

"If I'm Argent, then you're a Bluebird," she said quietly, and Dick chuckled.

"At least I know your sense of humor is still intact," he said quietly, and Reese laughed as well, before, much to Dick's surprise, Reese threw her arms around Dick's neck and hugged him. After a moment of surprise, Dick hugged her back. 

"Thank you, Bluebird," he heard Reese whisper, and Dick couldn't help but smile. He was suddenly  _really_ glad that Aqualad was in the Baltic Sea. Dick abruptly shivered as one of Reese's fingers accidentally pressed against the nape of his neck. Reese leaned back and looked at Dick with a smirk.

"Little sensitive there, are we?" she asked, and Dick gave her a small scowl that he was having trouble keeping on his face.

"Not funny." The moment was suddenly broken as Jason burst into the lounge, making Reese fall off the couch, and Dick fall with her, seeing as how his arm was still wrapped around her. As they both sprawled on the floor, Dick could hear Jason snickering, and this time the scowl stayed. "What do you need J-bird?" he grumbled as he helped Reese up. Jason was almost hyperventilating, with laughter, Dick didn't know, but it took the little bird a few moments before Robin could speak.

"There is a  _girl_ in my bedroom," he suddenly burst out, and both Dick and Reese's heads snapped towards him. Before anyone could speak, the sound of a car coming up the driveway made everyone rush to the window.

"Hmmm," Jason mused as Dick's eyes widened. "Looks like Bruce is home." When Bruce Wayne walked through the front door, followed by Alfred, the Batman was smiling. Like, full-on  _grinning_. Everyone must have looked a little shocked because the smile abruptly dropped and scowling Bat was back.

"We're having a Halloween party," he said simply.

Reese

Reese stared at Bruce in shock. Bruce Wayne, having a  _Halloween_ party? Reese knew that every year there was some sort of Wayne Foundation annual Gala, but this year's Gala had already been hosted. So, why was Bruce wanting to hold one now? Reese glanced at Dick from the corner of her eye, and he looked as shocked as she probably did.

"I figured you and Lauren would need something to get your mind off of Evie, so I called in a few favors and we will officially be hosting a Halloween party here at the manor on Halloween night." Reese quickly did the math in her head, and somewhat sheepishly raised a hand.

"Uh, Bruce?" she asked quietly. Batman turned to her.

"Yes?" Reese gestured towards a calendar that was hanging on a nearby wall.

"You  _do_ realize that Halloween is in two days, right?" And judging from the way Bruce glanced at the said calendar, then paled, he didn't. Alfred shook his head fondly as he led Reese and everyone else into the dining room, where there was suddenly enough breakfast for what looked like an army. Reese didn't know  _how_ Alfred found the time to do all of this, but it was appreciated. As Dick and Reese sat down, Silver X leaned over to hiss in Nightwing's ear.

"How does Alfred get around so quickly?" she asked, and Dick just shrugged.

"Beats me," he whispered back. "You'd think he'd be a speedster with how much stuff he gets done in a day." Reese was just about to take a bite of a waffle when Bruce spoke up.

"Where's Lauren?" Dick and Reese's eyes snapped towards Jason, who was suddenly looking very sheepish before all three of them shot up from their chairs and ran upstairs. Inside Jason's bedroom, Reese and Dick found Lauren tied to the sides of Jason's bed with a rope that the ten-year-old was now steadily undoing.

"Next time you want to tie somebody up, make sure you use stronger rope," Lauren grumbled as she rubbed her now red wrists. Reese smiled as Jason witnessed Lauren's superb escapist skills first-hand.

"Yeah, uh, sorry about that," Robin said shyly, and Reese couldn't help but notice the pink tint that rose on his cheeks. Interesting. Seeing as how now was as good a time as any to introduce Lauren and Jason, Reese beckoned the latter forward.

"Jason, this is my little sister, Lauren. Lauren? This is Jason Todd, also known as Robin." With Lauren still looking at the younger bird skeptically, Reese heard two pairs of feet thunder up the stairs just as Bruce and Alfred burst into Jason's room. When Reese saw Alfred's face as he saw Lauren's red wrists, she couldn't help but snicker.

"Master Jason!" The British Butler cried out in exasperation. "Whatever did you do?" Jason rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly before holding a hand out towards Lauren.

"I'm sorry I tied you up. Training, you know," Lauren raised an eyebrow.

"I really don't, but okay," In order to divert an argument, Reese turned to Lauren.

"Hey, Lauren, what do you think you want to be for Halloween?" Lauren seemed to think about it for a moment before she spoke up and said something that made the rest of them choke.

"Superman." After a few seconds, Lauren looked up at Reese with a confused look on her face.

"What? It's not like I'm Bruce and everyone will recognize me as the Dark Knight," Bruce, Dick, and Alfred's heads all snapped from Lauren to Reese in a matter of milliseconds. Reese threw up her hands in defense.

"Hey! I didn'ttell her _anything_. She figured it out all on her own!" Bruce just sighed and shook his head.

"There's nothing we can do about it now. But, even though we trust you to keep our secrets, don't dress up as Superman for Halloween. Dress up as Barry, Diana, hell, even  _me_. Just don't dress up as the blue Boy Scout," Reese was shocked. Since when did Bruce Wayne ever beg for something? She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall.

"Wow, Bruce Wayne asking someone for help. That's something you don't see every day," Bruce shot Reese a patented Bat-glare, but Silver X just smirked.

"Fine," Lauren grumbled. "I'll be a vampire. Does that make you happy?" After everything had diffused, and everyone else had left the room, Reese perched herself on the edge of Jason's bed. Turning to her sister, Reese was surprised to find tears running down the sides of Lauren's face.

"Ren, what's wrong?" It had been a while since Reese had used Lauren's old childhood nickname, but in moments of darkness for their family, like now, Lauren had always appreciated it. Reese's sister suddenly threw her arms around the older girl's neck and trembled as sobs wracked her tiny frame.

"Evie's  _dead_ , Reese! Someone  _killed_ her, and they might kill you too! I can't lose anyone else!" Reese was shocked as she processed Lauren's words. In a way, Reese's little sister was right, in the aspect that Scarecrow could very well kill her. If Crane's fear toxin was what had killed Evie, and Reese still had some of the toxins in her veins, then it could very well be slowly killing her as well.

"We'll catch Scarecrow," Reese assured her sister. "I promise. You're not going to lose me," Reese hugged her sister, and when she heard something in the hallway, she looked up to find Dick standing in the doorway, a soft smile on his face. Reese and Lauren separated and the former stood up to look Dick in the eye.

"You heard that?" she asked, and Nightwing smirked.

"I told you, you have a skill for helping people. One of your many redeemable qualities."

**Batcave; October 30th, 14:00 EDT**

Dick

Two days later, Dick sat in the Batcave, spinning in Bruce's chair, again, and listening as the sound of the party planners upstairs did the final prep for the party that would officially begin tonight, even though Halloween was tomorrow. Dick wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to go, but as it were, publicity needed a Dick Grayson appearance. Luckily, he didn't need to be upstairs until later, so for now, Nightwing was doing a background check on Anthony "Tony" Wilmer, the Gotham ME that Dick may or may not have threatened after he made a pass at Silver X. Whoops.

"You ever going to dress up, Bluebird?" A soft voice from behind him made Dick tense, and he spun around to find Reese leaning against the wall, dressed in the garb of what Dick could only describe as a feminine version of  _him_. Nightwing, anyway. Dick spun back around so he didn't have to focus on the fact that the costume was skin-tight.  _Nope_ _._ Focus, Dick. Anything but that.

"I don't need to dress up," he said, facing the computer. He heard footsteps coming closer and glanced out from the corner of his eye to find Reese standing next to him, her face smirking.

"You don't need to dress up because you're already a terrifying vigilante of the night that scares little children?" Dick felt a smile inch onto his face, and he turned to fully face Reese.

"Nah, that's Bruce's job. Nightwing and Robin, we're the quippers. We rile the bad guys up enough that they lose their edge.  _Then_ , Batman comes in." Reese laughed, and Dick could feel the heat rushing to his cheeks.

"What are you looking at?" Reese asked suddenly, and Dick, without breaking eye contact, moved the mouse and subtly clicked the article he was reading closed.

"Nothing," He saw Reese raise a single eyebrow, and Dick prepared himself for the onslaught.

" _Richard_ , I know when you're lying," Reese had never used Dick's full name before, and was it strange for Dick to say he  _liked_ it? Nightwing sighed before he opened the article up again. Reese read it and sighed once she finished. "Dick, what are you doing?" Nightwing threw his hands up in defense and tried to explain himself.

"Hey, hey, hey! I thought the guy was creepy! He kept trying to hit on you, and to be honest Jason was getting uncomfortable too," Reese sighed again.

"Jason's  _nine_ , Dick! He's meant to be uncomfortable by that type of thing. Hell,  _I_ was uncomfortable! That doesn't give you the liberty to just sift through Wilmer's stuff like that," Dick just raised an eyebrow in skepticism. Has she  _met_ the man he lives with? The Batman? The guy who does a background check on every single person that comes through those doors?

"There's something off about Wilmer, Argent!" Dick cried, standing up and beginning to pace. "The way he was talking when we met him, there's something wrong with him!" 

"Maybe you're just paranoid," Reese's words weren't a question any more than they were a statement, and they made Dick freeze.

"What?" he asked quietly, and Reese shrugged.

"I said, maybe you're just paranoid. Dick, I've dealt with perverted people before.  _Luke_ kidnapped me in Coast City because I was supposed to be his 'queen'. I can take care of myself." Dick stalked forward until he and Reese stood nose-to-nose. She  _was_ getting shorter.

"I know you can, Argent. Just, what if Wilmer is working for Scarecrow? Then what will you do?"

"I'll call you. Now, I'm taking Lauren to get her Halloween costume, and I'll see you tonight. Alright, Bluebird?" Dick still wasn't entirely comfortable with letting Reese and Lauren going off on their own in Gotham the day before Halloween, but there wasn't really anything he could do about it. Dick groaned in frustration and threw his hands up in the air.

"Fine!" he cried. "Just, don't make me tell you 'I told you so' when Wilmer turns out to be some sort of twisted Scarecrow cronie," Reese laughed again and pecked Nightwing on the cheek, making the Bluebird blush scarlet.

"Thanks, Dick!" she cried as she ran up the stairs. "I'll call you when we're on our way home, so you don't worry  _too_ much, okay?" Dick chuckled quietly to himself.

"Do whatever you want Argent. I won't stop you," He sat back down with a sigh and ran a hand over his face after Reese had gone. He couldn't help it, but Dick felt like something was about to go terribly wrong.

**Gotham City; October 30th, 18:30 EDT**

Reese

As Reese and Lauren walked down a strangely deserted street in Gotham, the older was freaking out a little bit. Reese hadn't meant to stay out this late, and Bruce's Halloween party was starting in less than an hour. Luckily, the two sisters were only maybe a ten-minute walk from Wayne Manor, where Dick was surely stewing. Reese didn't know what made Nightwing so worried about her, but it was kind of sweet. Reese saw an alley from the corner of her eye that would surely cut their return trip in half, and she grabbed Lauren's arm to catch the ten-year-old's attention.

"Let's cut through here," Reese said quietly. She wasn't entirely sure why they were whispering, but it seemed right. "We'll get back faster. And I'm sure Alfred put out _some_ candy," Lauren gave a small smile, but still looked a bit skeptical. As they started walking slowly through the alley, a sudden chill swept through the air. Something, Reese didn't know what made her glance at an abandoned crate on the ground, where a Scarecrow plushie was grinning at her.

The same plushie, Silver X realized, that had been sitting on Tony Wilmer's bookshelf in his office. Reese began to steadily walk faster, trying to get out of the alley as quickly as possible. Reese felt Lauren start to tug on her arm, and Reese glanced down at her sister. 

"Reese? Reese, I don't like this. This alley is scaring me," Reese smiled softly down at the younger girl, trying desperately to quench her own rising fear.

"I know Ren, we'll be back at the manor soon. Promise." A crash from the way they had come made both girls freeze and Reese's eyes began to glow. She quickly shifted into her tiger and stood protectively in front of Lauren, a growl rumbling in her throat. Silver tried to see through the rapidly darkening Gotham October night, but her eyes were still adjusting. Lauren suddenly shouted a warning, and the next second Reese was human again on the ground, groaning as a combat boot pressed into her ribs.

"Silver X, couldn't leave well enough alone could you?" a slick voice murmured, and Reese tensed as she recognized the voice was that of Tony Wilmer. Dick had been right. Reese's vision was rapidly darkening as unconsciousness lurked at the edge of her mind, but Reese could see the moment a newcomer arrived in the alley. 

Tall, and lanky, dressed in loose green pants with a long sleeved shirt and a burlap sack covering his head. Scarecrow cackled menacingly as he stalked forward, taking long strides down the filthy alley. Halfway towards Reese, Jonathan Crane was suddenly met with the charging body of a ten-year-old as Lauren thundered into his stomach, head bent like a little baby rhino.

"Leave my sister alone!" she cried. Crane stumbled back a few steps but was otherwise not hindered.

"Idiot child," he growled, swiping Lauren aside like she was little more than a gnat.

"Lauren!" Reese cried as her sister thudded into a brick wall and slumped to the ground, unmoving. Breaking free of Wilmer's hold, Reese stood up and ran shakily to her sister's side, and was relieved when Lauren groaned.

"R-Reese?" the girl whimpered, and Reese ran a cold hand down the side of Lauren's face.

"Shh, shh, Ren, you're going to be okay," Reese whispered, just as Crane wrapped a hand around her neck and lifted her off the ground.

"You're both too meddlesome to be useful," Scarecrow hissed out, as he began to choke Reese. "I guess I'll just have to get _rid_ of both of you, instead." Reese pried Crane's fingers away from her throat long enough to cry out.

"Lauren! Find Nightwing! Tell him what happened! Just...find...Nightwing..." The rest of whatever Reese was trying to say was cut off as Wilmer jabbed a shot of some kind of sedative into the side of her neck. As Reese's body went limp, Crane deposited her into the waiting arms of Wilmer, who just grinned maliciously.

"What of the child?" The ME asked, glancing dismissively at Lauren. Crane just turned away.

"Leave her," he said. "She'll lead the birds and Bat to us. And we'll be ready."

**xxxxxx**

Lauren Michaels didn't know how long she stayed in that alley, hyperventilating and trying to process what had just happened. She only remembered what Reese had told her to do when Nightwing and Robin dropped to the ground at the end of the alley.

"Lauren!" Jason cried as he caught sight of the battered and bruised girl laying on the ground. "Lauren, are you okay?" Lauren sat up shakily, rubbing her head. 

"What happened?" she asked before she caught sight of Dick standing behind Jason like a silent sentry, a frown etched on his face.

"Where's Reese?" Nightwing asked, and Lauren wasn't all that surprised to hear the fear that was in Dick's voice. "Lauren, where is she?" 

"They got her," Lauren whispered quietly, and Dick stumbled back a few steps. 

"They got her."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I also kinda maybe sorta wrote the epilogue for Golden Guard(third book) and ONLY the epilogue! The epilogue is called After Endgame, and it starts in the last scene in Endgame, with...well that'll just spoil it, but you will all hate me for the cliffhanger! I'll give you a hint, someone who's supposed to be dead isn't actually dead, and it isn't Wally or Red Hood.


	19. Chapter 18...Or In Which Wally Screams Like A Girl(Halloween:Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nightwing asks Kid Flash to help him find Reese; Unwelcome guests crash the Halloween party, and Malcolm Crane gets a first-hand look at Dick's "interrogation tactics".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I was writing Wilmer's dialogue, it literally gave me chills. In a Gotham's-ME-is-a-creepy-ass-pervert kind of way.
> 
> Imagine Shade as the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited TV show version.

**Batcave; October 31st, 00:30 EDT**

Dick

Eight hours. That was how long it had been since Nightwing had seen Reese alive.

Four hours. That was how long it had been since Reese had been kidnapped from the alley in Gotham. Four hours since anyone had seen her. And four hours, since Dick had lost his mind.

"Where _is_ she?" he cried, slamming a closed fist down onto the Batcomputer's desk, scattering some of the files Bruce had sitting there, and startling Jason, who had been standing next to him. Dick braced both hands on the desk, breathing hard. They had been searching for Reese, Crane, and Wilmer for almost five hours, and they were no closer now than they'd been when they'd started their search as soon as he, Jason, and Lauren had returned to the Manor.

Lauren. Oh god, how was she taking all of this? She'd  _seen_ Reese get taken by those  _monsters_ , and was now trying to help Bruce and Alfred keep the Halloween party's guests from figuring out the secret superhero lair that was in Bruce Wayne's basement. Maybe Dick had been so blinded by his rage towards Wilmer and Crane, his need to find Reese, whatever it took, that he had neglected to talk to Lauren about what exactly had happened.

"Don't worry, Dick," Jason said quietly, setting a small gloved hand on Nightwing's shoulder. "We'll find her. You won't let Wilmer and Scarecrow get away with this," Dick gave a small, sad smile towards Jason and sighed.

"Yeah, you're right Jay-bird. Sorry, I guess this time I wasn't fast enough to save..." Dick trailed off, oblivious to Jason's words on how it wasn't his fault.  _Fast_. They needed  _speed_. A speedster, someone who could cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time. Not Barry, this wasn't big enough for the League. Nightwing needed Kid Flash. Richard Grayson needed Wally West.

Dick abruptly stood up and headed towards the Batcave's Zeta tube, not even bothering to speak to Robin. Tapping his destination into the console, Nightwing finally turned to Jason, and spoke quietly, in a voice that barely showed how scared and terrified Dick really was.

"I'm heading to Central City," he said. "I'll find KF. Tell him what's going on. Wally will help us, I'm sure of it," Jason nodded, before looking back towards Dick.

"What should I do while you're gone?" he asked, and Nightwing thought for a moment before speaking again.

"Look for more clues as to where Reese might be. Knowing Jonathan Crane as I do, Reese may not be alive for much longer."

**Recognized Nightwing B01**

**Central City; October 31st, 02:15 CDT**

When Dick stepped out of the Zeta tube in Central City, it was pitch-black, which made sense, considering it was two in the morning. But, there was something off about the darkness. Something,  _sinister_. Nightwing ducked behind a nearby building as he heard a group of footsteps thundering closer. At the head of the group was a pale man, with almost translucent skin, dressed in a black suit, with a top hat and carrying a cane. Shade.

"Go, faster!" The immortal cried. "The Scarlet Speedster will be after us soon," Maybe it was his simmering rage at Reese still being missing, or the fact that Dick hadn't had a good night's sleep for the past couple of days, but whatever it was, it made Nightwing step out from behind his vantage point and swing an eskrima stick, catching Shade in the throat and throwing the villain to the ground.

"Nightwing?" Shade gasped as he tried to get air back into his windpipe and larynx. "What are you doing out here in Central?" Dick shrugged.

"Call it multi-tasking. Now, what were you and your goons doing with those money bags?" Shade, who'd by now sat up, rolled his eyes.

"What do you think?" Dick was cut off from answering by the arrival of the Flash, with KF not far behind.

"Di-Nightwing?" Wally asked, almost slipping up. "Whatare you doing here?" As Barry took care of Shade and the rest of the goons, Dick walked up to Wally.

"I need your help,"

Wally

It had been a normal night. Well, as normal as moonlighting as a teenage superhero could be. Wally had been sleeping, dreaming about speedsters and all-you-can-eat buffets, when Barry had run in and told him that Shade was robbing the Central City Bank. Now here he was, running through the streets hunting down a villain who could manipulate the night's darkness.

"Any clues on Shade's whereabouts?" Wally heard Barry ask over his comm. Even though the Flash couldn't see him, Wally shook his head anyway.

"Nah, the only things I've seen are some street kids messing around. They're fine though," Barry started speaking, but he was cut off by the sudden blaring of an alarm across the street from Wally. 

Kid Flash skidded to a stop in time to see Shade and about six different thugs break the glass in a nearby window. The immortal dark-wielder froze when he saw Wally standing there, watching him with a shocked look on his face. Then, Shade sneered.

"Well, if it isn't  _Kid Flash_. A little bit past your bedtime, isn't it?" Wally frowned and crossed his arms.

"Ha ha ha. Very funny,  _Shade_ ," Wally then tapped his commlink in his ear to alert Barry. "Hey Flash, Shade and his cronies are at the small regional bank on Dekker Street. Get here as fast as you can," Wally hadn't even finished his sentence before he was almost literally blown away by Barry's shockwave that appeared when Flash stopped next to Kid Flash and across from Shade.

"Run!" Shade cried, and he and his goons bolted, but not until after Shade had used his cane to make a cloud of pure darkness surround everything around the two speedsters, rendering them figuratively blind to their surroundings.

"Ah, crap!" Wally groaned. "Now he's going to get away. We  _could_ be able to catch them if we could  _see_!" Wally thought Barry might be about to speak, but the sudden thud from off to Wally's left stopped him.

"-are you doing here in Central?" Wally heard Shade ask before a familiar voice answered,

"Call it multi-tasking. Now, what were you and your goons doing with those money bags?" That was Dick's voice. Nightwing? What  _was_ he doing here in Central? Wally didn't have to wait long for an answer, because just then the darkness cleared and Nightwing was revealed, standing over Shade's gasping form, eskrima stick in hand.

"Di-Nightwing?" Wally asked, almost giving away Dick's secret identity. "What are you doing here?" Dick stepped forward as Barry took care of Shade and the thugs.

"I need your help," Nightwing said softly, and Wally noticed how cold Dick's voice seemed. It wasn't because he was emotionless, no, Wally knew Dick Grayson better than that.  _This_ was how Dick spoke when he was trying to suppress his real emotions. Something had happened. Something bad.

"What's wrong?" Wally asked before he noticed that Dick was clutching something in his left fist, and it  _wasn't_ one of Nightwing's eskrima sticks. It was Silver X's bō staff. Something had happened to Reese.  _That_ was why Dick was suppressing his actual emotions.  _That_ was why Nightwing was in Central City. Dick Grayson had come to ask for help. "Nightwing, what  _happened_?" Dick heaved a sigh before he spoke.

"He got her, KF. Scarecrow took Reese, and I couldn't  _do_ anything about it! I knew she shouldn't have taken Lauren out there. If I had been more forceful with her, maybe she'd still be here. Maybe Crane and Wilmer wouldn't have won," Wally was still trying to process everything that Dick had said but quickly held up a hand to stop him.

"Wait. You mean Wilmer as in, like, Anthony Wilmer? Gotham's Medical Examiner?" Dick nodded.

"Do you remember when Reese and Lauren's cousin was killed?" Wally nodded. It had been a little messed-up, seeing how much Reese's cousin looked almost  _exactly_ like Reese herself, except for a slight height difference and different colored hair. Dick's voice continued, snapping Wally from his morbid thoughts.

"Well, after we were done, Reese, Jason, and I went to the ME's office to see if Wilmer could help us with any of the smaller details concerning Evie's death..." Nightwing trailed off, and Wally felt like Dick was withholding something more.

"What happened?" Wally asked, somewhat fearing the answer. Dick sighed again before continuing.

"It was strange and  _extremely_ uncomfortable. Maybe it was the fact that Wilmer had a scarecrow plush on his bookshelf, or it might have been that he kept trying to hit on Silver X," Wally cringed. Yeah, that  _was_ twisted.

"So, like the Leech?" he asked, and Nightwing shook his head.

"No, it was different from Luke. Mainly because Wilmer is a middle-aged  _man_ ," Barry had since been running to CCPD and dropped Shade off, and the Flash had just now returned.

"What's up?" he asked, and Wally and Dick both turned to him with twin frowns on their face.

"It's Reese," Wally said softly because he sure as hell knew _Nightwing_ wasn't going to talk. "She's been kidnapped,"

**Wayne Manor; October 31st, 03:30 EDT**

Bruce

Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne's Halloween party was in full swing. Alfred, Lauren, and Jason had been distracting the guests while Bruce checked in with Dick every few minutes. Bruce sighed as he took a sip of some of the punch Alfred had made prior to the party starting. Dick had been so torn up when he found out Reese had been kidnapped. Bruce knew that Nightwing blamed himself for Reese's disappearance and the fact that Dick thought he wasn't able to protect Reese from Wilmer.

"Master Bruce, may I offer some advice?" Alfred's voice drew Bruce from his thoughts, and the Gotham billionaire looked up to find the British Butler looking at him fondly.

"Sure, Alfred. Lord knows I need some right now,"

"Think of how Master Dick feels right now about Miss Reese missing as similar to the way he acted after that dreadful Failsafe simulation last year," Bruce raised a single eyebrow.

"Is reminding me of my past mistakes supposed to make me feel better?" he asked. Alfred shook his head.

"Not at all. What I mean is the notion that Miss Reese may be dead is prompting Master Dick to somehow  _relive_ his experiences _within_ the Failsafe simulation,"

"Like post-traumatic stress?" Bruce asked, but Alfred shook his head again.

"No. The thought that Reese could be dead, that Nightwing might never be able to see Silver X alive again is messing with his head. It's driving him to risk more, put himself in more danger, just to save  _her_. He's starting to act just like-" Alfred was cut off by the sound of breaking glass, just as a massive living room window exploded inward, covering all of the party guests with small pieces of jagged glass.

Among the costumed guests were two newcomers that Bruce knew had  _not_ been there before. They were dressed similar to a Raggedy Ann or Andy doll and reminded Bruce eerily of a crude human-skin doll Barton Mathis had sent Batman several years before. Ironically, they also reminded the Dark Knight of... _scarecrows_.

"Attention!" Malcolm Crane called out. "We are Phobos and Tainta, also known as Scarecrow's twin son and daughter. If you cooperate, no one else will get hurt," Bruce, who had been analyzing the situation to try and find an opening, suddenly stopped when he heard Phobos's words. He had said "nobody _else_ ". That meant that  _somebody_ had already gotten hurt. That somebody...was most likely Reese.

"Give us Dick Grayson and Lauren Michaels!" Tainta, or Molly Crane, cried out forcefully, and a controversial murmur swept through the crowd. One brave soul in the throng called out,

"Why do you need them?" Molly laughed, and Bruce shuddered. That laugh sounded too much like Joker's own.

"Our father has devised a plan that needs Grayson and Michaels in order to make it succeed," Suddenly, Malcolm threw down what Bruce assumed to be a smoke pellet and a yellow fog spread throughout the room. Bruce didn't need to be colleagues with a Martian mind-reader to figure out what that yellow cloud was. Fear Toxin. Luckily, Jason, Lauren, and Alfred were all close by.

"Cover your mouths!" Bruce cried as they pushed against the fleeing crowd of party-goers. Jason nodded and shucked off his jacket, holding the sleeve up to Lauren's mouth. 

"If it isn't the Wayne family," Molly sneered. "Come to hand over Dick and Lauren?" Before anyone could answer, Malcolm was thrown to the side by what Bruce could only describe as a high-speed punch. As Phobos crumpled to the ground, Kid Flash stood triumphantly over Malcolm's unconscious body, while Molly shouted in rage.

"How  _dare_ you?" KF chuckled and held up his hands in what Bruce assumed to be defense.

"Hey, hey, hey! Easy, lady! I was just trying to defeat you!" Molly began to stalk forward with a single hand raised menacingly.

"Maybe I should just defeat  _you_ instead," Before she could throw herself at Wally, Tainta was knocked to the side by Nightwing as Dick jumped in through the smashed window.

"Maybe  _you_ should just take a little nap before you make irrational decisions," Bruce looked up at Dick as his older ward stood up.

"Should we take them to the interrogation room?" Dick asked. Barry looked skeptically at Bruce.

"You have an interrogation room?" Bruce shrugged.

"I'm Batman. It comes with the occupation."

**Batcave; October 31st 05:45 EDT**

Dick

Malcolm Crane regained consciousness an hour-and-a-half later, as Dick was watching him, leaning against the stone wall of Batman's interrogation room, which wasn't in use very often, to be honest. 

Phobos groaned as he woke up, and Nightwing's mask lenses narrowed dangerously. Malcolm was in on the ploy to capture Reese, Dick was sure of it. He just needed a way to prove it.

"Ugh, where am I?" Malcolm whispered, and Dick stepped forward out of the shadows, satisfyingly scaring Scarecrow's son.

"Interrogation," Nightwing said simply, stepping closer and bracing his hands on the metal table in front of Malcolm. Nightwing glared at Phobos and could see the second that Malcolm started to squirm. Apparently, Crane hadn't trained his kids as well as he thought he did.

"Am I here for a reason?" Malcolm asked smugly, and Dick blinked before he started counting on his fingers.

"Well, you kidnapped my friend, hurt her sister, broke into Wayne Manor and tried to kidnap said sister. Must I go on?" Malcolm's whole demeanor had changed. He smirked at Dick, and Nightwing ground his teeth.

"You must be  _Nightwing_ ," Phobos observed smugly. Dick crossed his arms and frowned.

"And?" Malcolm leaned back as far as the chair he was tied to would allow, and raised a single face-painted eyebrow.

"My father's told me  _so_ much about you. Have you found Argent yet?" Nightwing leaped forward and wrapped a single hand around Malcolm's throat. He didn't deserve to call Reese "Argent". He didn't even deserve to  _think_ of her.

"Where  _is_ she?" Dick growled, and even though Phobos couldn't breathe, Malcolm Crane began to chuckle.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he asked, and Dick's hand tightened.

"I could keep you here, and talk to your  _sister_ instead?" That was it.  _That_ was Malcolm's weakness. His sister. And, judging from the way Phobos jerked forward and tried to attack Nightwing himself, Malcolm wasn't keen on letting Dick do that.

"You hurt Molly, and I'll get my hands on Reese, and I won't let you rescue her until I'm done having my fun," Nightwing snapped, leaped over the table, ripped the ropes off of Malcolm's wrists, and pressed Phobos against the wall, forearm pressed against Malcolm's clavicle.

"Don't  _ever_ talk about Reese like that," Dick growled, mask lenses as white slits. "You do  _anything_ to hurt or touch Reese in any way that endangers her, and I will hunt you down and make sure you can  _never_ hurt anyone ever again. Understood?" Malcolm jerked his head in a crude nod. Before Nightwing could say anything more, the door burst open and Wally stuck his head in.

"Whoa, what's going on here?" KF asked, and Nightwing scowled.

"Nothing. Kid Flash, what is it?"

"We're getting a transmission," Wally said before his eyes flicked up to meet Dick's. "Batman thinks it's from Wilmer and Crane," Nightwing's head snapped up. Crane and Wilmer?  _Reese_. Without even turning back to Malcolm, Dick sprinted out of the interrogation room and over to the Batcomputer, where Barry and Bruce were staring hard at the video on the screen.

"Look who it is," Wilmer sneered. "It's  _Nightwing_. How are you, dear boy?" Nightwing just glared. Wilmer was dressed in doctor scrubs and a surgical mask. After a few moments, Wilmer cleared his throat.

"Well, uh, you see I have someone you need. If you cooperate, she won't get injured. If you don't, well..." Wilmer trailed off and stepped to the side. Dick's heart almost stopped at the sight in front of him.

Reese. Strung up in  _chains_. Her hands were locked in thick iron shackles, with the chains attached to the ceiling. Reese was unconscious, her head lolling to the side. There was dried blood on the side of her head, presumably from the cut on her temple.

"You see?" Wilmer asked innocently. "This is what you have at stake. And, must I say, her skin is so  _beautiful_. So  _pristine_. Take your time finding dear Reese, Nightwing. I also must take _my_ time," With that, Wilmer signed off, just as Dick punched the keyboard with his fist, shattering the instrument. This was wrong. This was so  _wrong_. Wilmer had taken Reese almost twelve hours ago, and they still had  _no idea_ where Reese was. 

Then, Dick remembered something from the background of Wilmer's transmission. Drawers. Lots and lots of  _drawers_. It actually looked a lot like a... _morgue_. Of  _course_. The morgue. How had he missed that? Tony Wilmer was Gotham City's Medical Examiner, who worked at Gotham's Morgue.

"I know where Reese is," Nightwing whispered, and everyone else's head snapped towards his.

"What?" the Flash asked. "Then, where is she?" Dick ran towards his motorcycle and set on the helmet. Revving the engine, he turned back to Barry.

"The morgue," Nightwing said quietly. "Reese is at the morgue,"

**Gotham Morgue; October 31st, 06:30 EDT**

Nightwing, Kid Flash, and Robin burst into the main autopsy room of the morgue just as Wilmer was walking towards Reese, holding a massive syringe that held a bright green liquid. Dick didn't need to be friends with a Martian mind-reader to know that that green liquid was the fear toxin.

"Wilmer, stop!" Dick cried. Wilmer just cackled.

"Nightwing, Nightwing, Nightwing. Did you really think that it would be this easy? That you would just be able to walk in here, no questions asked, and rescue Reese like it would be no big deal?" Dick froze. The way Wilmer was talking, one would most likely think...

"Ambush!" Dick cried, just as he was swiped aside by a massive hand as Scarecrow lumbered into the room.

"Insolent children!" Crane cried. "You are just as stupid as the girl. Shame really, you would all have been valuable specimens," Nightwing slammed his fist into the floor and flipped up, thrusting his feet into Crane's abdomen and knocking the wind out of him.

When Crane lay on the floor, gasping silently, Dick turned towards Reese, just as Wilmer inserted the six-inch long needle into her ribcage. As Reese started to scream in hallucinogenic terror, Nightwing cried out as well.

" _No_!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two more chapters, plus an epilogue, and then we're done! With the first book anyway, Project Silverbird is going to be great!
> 
> I also wrote the first chapter of the Golden Guard, and oh my goodness it jumps in with a bang!


	20. Chapter 19...Or In Which Reese Faces Her Fears(Halloween: Part 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Silver X's darkest fears come to light; Reese is in denial; Silver goes "primal", and Nightwing has to be the one to calm her down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I used the cliche it's-all-a-dream thing, but I didn't know how to incorporate Belle Reve without bringing in D.A.W.N Academy, and if I did that, then this would be probably almost fifty chapters, and there is NO way I would be able to stay on a project for that long. So here is the prologue in Belle Reve, from Reese's point of view.
> 
> ALSO: PERVERTED MEDICAL EXAMINER THAT BASICALLY MOLESTS REESE! JUST A WARNING!

Reese

_Everything was cold. So, so cold. Reese's eyes flew open and she sat up with a gasp, only to find herself in her house. Pre-explosion, that is. Reese rubbed her head and looked around. Everything was as it should be._

_Her purple-quilted comforter on her bed, the various papers, and notebooks that held all of the stories she'd written, even the picture of Reese, Lauren, and their parents in the Bahamas. Wait, the Bahamas? The same picture that Lauren had had with her when Reese saw her at the Garricks'?_

_This was wrong. This was all wrong. Reese wasn't supposed to be at her house. Her house was gone. All that was left was a pile of ashes and debris in Keystone City. That's all there_   _had_ _been, ever since... Ever since her house had exploded._

_"It's a dream," Reese whispered to herself. "This is all a twisted dream." The sudden sound of footsteps made Reese look towards the door, where her heart almost stopped. It was her mother. Her mother, who had been dead for the past three months._

_"Reese, sweetheart, are you ready?" Rochelle Michaels, a homely woman of thirty-nine, looked to be like your stereotypical stay-at-home mom. Reese didn't realize how much she had actually missed her mother until she heard her voice. It was sweet and reminded Reese of warm hot chocolate and Christmas stories by their fireplace._

_Reese jumped off of her "bed" and thudded into her mom's warm body, and wrapped her arms around her middle. Rochelle laughed and tears started running down Reese's face. The last time Reese had broken down like this was back in Wayne Manor...with Dick._

_Reese, who had shut her eyes to soak up her mother's warmth, snapped her eyes open with the realization. This was bad. This was really bad. The last thing Reese remembered was walking down the abandoned alley in Gotham with Lauren, and then...nothing. She vaguely thought that there had been a Scarecrow sighting somewhere in the mix, but she wasn't entirely sure._

_"Aw, little Reese," a slick voice cooed, and Reese's head snapped up. "Trying to think your way out?" Rochelle melted into the figure of Luke, who smiled maliciously at her._

_"This isn't real," Reese whispered to herself. "You're not real," Luke cackled, and Reese swore she was getting some serious Déjà vu vibes from this whole situation. Then, it hit her. The fear toxin. When the toxins had attacked Reese at Mount Justice, there had been some real aspects to her fears. Which, most likely, made them all the more believable._

_The Leech suddenly gripped Reese's forearm and tugged her down a seemingly endless hallway. By the time they finally stopped at a door, Reese's feet were dragging._

_"Let's take a little journey, shall we?" Then, he opened the door and pushed Reese through._

**Belle Reve Penitentiary; February 6th, 23:10 CST**

_She was running through the cellblocks with Kaldur. They had just been compromised on an undercover mission Bruce had sent them in on to investigate the exact agendas of D.A.W.N Academy, the adolescent villainous recruitment center from the file the Team had originally swiped from CADMUS. Now, Aqualad and Silver X were on the run from the Terror Twins, Professor Ivo, and Icicle Jr., among others._

_Flipping around, Reese shifted into her wolf and thudded into Tommy Terror, throwing Tuppence to the ground in the process. Just as Reese was about to deliver a paw-swipe to Tommy's head, a six-inch long icicle protruded from Reese's chest, splattering dark-red blood all over the elder Terror Twin's face._

_Reese gasped for breath as her legs buckled and she crumpled to the ground, shifting back to human. Reese felt Kaldur catch her, and the Atlantean gently lay her on the cold stone ground._

_"Come on, Silver," she could hear Aqualad whisper. "Don't leave me now," Reese told him that she wouldn't, but it was a promise Silver X wouldn't be able to keep. Reese closed her eyes and gave into the dizzying blackness lurking on the edges of her vision._

**Gotham Morgue; October 31st, 06:30 EDT**

Dick

" _No_!" Dick cried out as the fear toxin was inserted into Reese's veins. The toxin was a vicious, neon green, and shown as bright as hazardous waste. Wilmer gave a chilling, enraging grin before turning to Nightwing.

"Looks like you're too late, little bird. Shame, I would've liked Reese to be awake for this part," Then, to Dick's absolute  _horror_ , Anthony Wilmer grabbed Reese's chin and tilted her head back, just as he began to kiss his way along her throat, making Dick growl.

This was no longer a plain kidnapping. This was the sexual assault of a minor, and consequential of up to fourteen years in prison. Dick no longer cared if he "accidentally" broke Bruce's no-killing rule, this was  _Reese_ they were talking about, and Wilmer just up and  _kissed_ her throat? No, he would not let this go any further than it already had.

"Get  _away_ from her," Nightwing growled, before he practically  _flew_ at Wilmer, slamming into the Medical Examiner and throwing him to the ground. All that was going through Dick's head at that moment was the image that was now seared into his brain. Wilmer's mouth on Reese's slender throat, his teeth grating on her pale skin.

Dick's fist pounded into Wilmer's jaw, bringing with it almost 4,000 newtons of force, shattering Wilmer's bone on impact. The ME clutched his mouth, but Nightwing wasn't finished. While KF and Robin took care of Crane, that left Dick and Wilmer.

Nightwing grabbed onto the collar of Wilmer's lab coat and threw the Medical Examiner across the room, where Wilmer crashed into a table holding various surgical tools. Ironically, none of them cut him. 

"I told you earlier Nightwing," Wilmer managed to gasp out. "You are insane." Dick shrugged nonchalantly and began to stalk forward.

"Well, when you basically assault the girl I love, it tends to make a boy snap. Now, what shall I break next?" Dick decided to go for the phalanges and stomped down hard on Wilmer's hand. He heard the fine bones snap under the pressure and Wilmer gasped out in pain. Dick reached down and grabbed Wilmer's collar again before lifting the ME up and pressing him against the wall.

"Wilmer, you're  _married_. You have a  _son_. What made you obsessed with a seventeen-year-old girl?"

"Sixteen," Wilmer said simply, and Dick looked at him quizzically.

"What?"

"Reese is sixteen now. The fear toxins I put in her veins contained a de-aging component that is essentially self-explanatory. The younger a child is, the more irrational their fears. The more irrational their fears are, the more research we will be able to extract from them. So, Reese is no longer seventeen. She's sixteen, and getting younger," Nightwing glanced over his shoulder at Reese, where the girl was convulsing in pain.

"Uncuff her," he said harshly, and Wilmer stared at him.

"What?" Dick turned back towards the ME, cerulean fire blazing in his eyes.

"Unless you want me to continue breaking every single bone in your body, you will uncuff her. Immediately," Nightwing removed his hands from Wilmer's lab coat collar, and the fifty-year-old man dropped to the floor, where he scurried over to where Reese was hanging and unlocked her restraints.

The shackles opened with a metallic 'click' and Reese fell limp to the ground. Dick caught her and set her gently on the floor. It seemed like the "de-aging component" worked fast. Reese was almost six inches shorter now, just a few inches taller than Dick himself. Nightwing couldn't help but wonder if the component stopped at a certain age, or if it just kept going until Reese was basically wiped from existence.

As cute as it would be, Dick didn't want a two-year-old Reese running around, jumping at every little noise and shadow.

"Does it stop?" he asked Wilmer, and to Dick's immense relief, the Medical Examiner nodded.

"Yes, at age fifteen, the unofficial common ground between irrational childhood fears and the grim reality that is adulthood. Which should be right about...now," Reese's body, which had been both steadily shrinking and vibrating, suddenly stopped. Nightwing heaved a sigh of relief and tightened his grip on Reese  _ever_ so slightly. She wouldn't be wiped. But, now Reese was two years younger than her original age. She had a seventeen-year-old's mind in a fifteen-year-old body. Dick didn't want to think of the consequences this might entail.

"What did you  _do_ to her?" Nightwing whispered as he gazed at Reese's limp form. Younger people have more irrational fears, Wilmer had said. Dick could only imagine what Reese might be experiencing right now. He just hoped it wouldn't break her when they got her out of it...

**Belle Reve Penitentiary; February 6th, 23:30 CST**

Reese

_When Reese's eyes opened, she was having an out-of-body experience. Literally. It was like she watching through someone else's eyes, like in a TV show. She could see her body lying limp on the floor, blood pooling in a large red circle underneath. Around her stood Nightwing, Superboy, Miss Martian, and Aqualad, but Kid Flash and Artemis arrived a few seconds later._

_"Kal," Artemis asked breathlessly. "What happened?" Reese could see Kaldur's face turn colder than ice as he stood up and glared hard at Wally._

_"We were compromised," he growled. "By you_ _," Wally's eyes widened and Reese couldn't help but notice the way everyone's heads whipped towards Wally, including Artemis's, who promptly hopped out of her boyfriend's arms to stand beside M'gann._

_"Uh, guys? What are you talking about?" Wally asked. "I didn't do anything. I didn't even know that Silver and Aqualad were undercover!" Nightwing stepped forward, and Reese braced herself._

_"That's the thing KF, none of us did. So, how was it that I got a transmission from you while I was in Bialya saying that the 'mission' had been compromised?" Before anyone could react, Kaldur sprang, brandishing his water-bearers as twin swords once again._

_It all happened so fast, Reese didn't have time to do anything. Dick was still standing in front of Wally, and he had no time to move or try and jump out of the way. Kaldur's water blade slid into Nightwing's chest like jelly, and the only thing Reese could hear aside from the blood pounding in her head was her own scream._

_Dick Grayson, dead, just like that? No, there was no way. Kaldur wouldn't do something like that. Reese, seeing as how she was still sort of a ghost, floated over to where Nightwing's body lay, blood pooling underneath him. _

_Gently taking his shoulder, Reese turned him over, and everything froze. Not like ice-frozen, but more similar to when you pause a movie. Everything was still except for Silver X and Nightwing. The wound in Dick's chest was gushing blood, and Reese suddenly realized there was no way she could be able to save him. His heart had already stopped._

_Nightwing was dead. Suddenly, Reese tumbled to the ground on her knees, fully visible to everyone around her, if they were able to see her that is. They were still "paused". Silver gently brushed her hand against Dick's cheek, and Nightwing's black hair fluttered as if caught in a breeze._

_"Come on Bluebird. Dick, wake up," Reese whispered, mostly to herself. "I can't lose you. Not this time," But, it was no use. Nightwing had already lost too much blood, there was no hope of saving him now._

_As Reese felt hot tears begin to run down her cheeks, she felt the beginnings of the Silver X in her veins begin to grow more unstable. When Kaldur had first shifted, Nightwing had said the shifts tied into their emotions. The stronger the emotions, the more unstable the shift._

_And now, with Nightwing dead, Reese was experiencing some pretty strong emotions. She just wasn't sure what they all meant. Sadness, and grief of course. But also anger, rage, and a somewhat selfish and petty little thing Reese would almost call love, given different circumstances._

_The world unpaused, just as Silver X took full control, pushing Reese back into the farthest reaches of her own mind, and letting the tiger reign free. She leaped..._ and everything snapped back into focus. There was no Belle Reve. No undercover mission from Batman. It wasn't February, it was still Halloween. Dick wasn't dead, he was very much alive, and looking at Reese with a terrified look on his face as the Reese-tiger slammed into what would have been Aqualad in the fear hallucination, but was now the figure of Anthony Wilmer.

Reese tried to stop the CADMUS experiment, tried to stop it from doing something Reese was  _sure_ she would regret, but it was too late. Much like when the fear-Kaldur had murdered the fear-Nightwing, the mind-trapped Reese could only watch in horror as Silver X, in the form of a massive silver feline, latched onto Wilmer's throat and bit down. Hard.

**Gotham City Morgue; October 31st, 07:00 EDT**

Dick

He was dead, Dick was sure of it. 

Anthony Wilmer, Gotham Medical Examiner, was dead. Died by the hands of a Reese Michaels who was most definitely  _not_ in control of her actions. Dick, Wally, and Jason stood in both shock and horror as they watched Silver X murder Wilmer in cold blood.

"KF, get Robin out of here," Nightwing said quietly. 

"What?" Wally cried. "Are you crazy? What if Ree-uh, Silver X kills you?" Dick glared hard at him, and Wally shut up.

"She won't, Kid I know her. She  _won't_ kill me. Now,  _go_ ," Dick made a pushing motion with his hands, and Wally sighed before he picked up an almost catatonic Jason and sped off. Thirty seconds later he was back and standing in the doorway. Crane had long since run off, but Dick knew that Batman would find him soon enough, and this whole mess would be over in no time.

"What's your plan, Grayson?" Wally asked coldly. "Because I  _really_ don't want to have to explain  _two_ dead bodies to Flash and Batman," Without answering, Dick grabbed his eskrima sticks from the holsters and handed them to Wally. Dick then passed over his utility belt, which Wally took with a barely contained tremor.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Now she's really going to kill you,"

"She won't, KF," Dick said firmly. "Now, wait for my signal, and then take Wilmer's body and get him as far away from here as you can. We don't want any evidence left behind," Wally nodded and took a ready stance.

Nightwing stepped forward slowly, hands held out in what Dick hoped to be a peaceful surrender. To be honest, he wasn't entirely sure whether Reese would kill him or not. Whenever the Silver X was in control, she was always more unpredictable.

"Argent?" Dick asked warily, and he heard Wally's voice from the doorway.

"You have a nickname for her?" Nightwing whipped his head towards Kid Flash, and he saw the speedster flinch from the force of the Bat-glare leveled his way. Turning back to Reese, Dick raised a hand, and the silver tiger growled.

"Shh," he whispered quickly. "Shh. Reese, it's me, it's Nightwing. It's Bluebird," For a second, Dick thought that there was a flash of brown in those glowing silver eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it had come. Reese growled again, and Dick realized that the tiger was getting ready to roar. Before Silver X could open Reese's blood-stained jaw, Dick leaped forward and clamped his hands around the tiger's muzzle, rendering Reese silent.

With one hand, Nightwing carefully reached up and removed his mask, revealing Dick Grayson's cerulean eyes. This time, when dark brown filtered into silver, it stayed. Reese was back in control. Leaning forward, Dick pressed his forehead against Reese's just as she shifted back to human.

"Dick?" she asked quietly, and her voice was hoarse from screaming. Dick gave her a weak smile.

"Hey, Argent," he said, and suddenly Reese's arms were around him, and she was hugging Nightwing as though it had been forever since they had seen each other, which given present circumstances, it probably seemed like it had been.

"You died," Dick heard Reese whisper, and unconsciously Nightwing tensed. That was one of Reese's fears? Him dying? Her next words made Dick's blood freeze. "Aqualad. Aqualad was the one who killed you," Dick leaned back and looked Reese dead in the eye.

"Argent, I'm okay. Kaldur didn't kill me, nothing happened to me. See? I'm  _okay_ ," Reese gave a reluctant nod, but then her eyes landed on Wilmer's dead, mutilated body, which Dick suddenly realized he hadn't had Wally get rid off.

"What did I do?" she whispered, quickly scrambling to her feet. She made to balk forward, but Nightwing caught her in time. Exchanging glances with Wally, Dick spoke to Reese.

"Reese, that wasn't your fault. It was-" Reese suddenly cut Nightwing off. Spinning around, she placed her hands on the sides of Dick's face and looked him dead in the eye. Dick was startled by the pure  _terror_ that lurked within Reese's dark brown pools.

"What did I  _do_?" she whispered fearfully, and Dick sighed.  _This_ was what the fear toxin would do to break Reese. It made her do something that Reese would  _never_ do normally. Something unforgivable, to anyone who didn't know Reese like the Team did.

_This_ , was how you broke Silver X.  _This_ , was how you broke Reese Michaels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ONE MORE CHAPTER AND THE EPILOGUE!!!


	21. Chapter 20...Or In Which Kaldur Comes Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of Scarecrow's fear toxin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this chapter is almost 4,700 words, which is basically a record for me! Unless you count the time where I wrote 11,300 words in the course of three days, but whatever...Enjoy this chapter, because it's a doozy! :)

**Wayne Manor; October 31st, 09:45 EDT**

Reese

There had been so much blood. Dark-red liquid pooling everywhere on the floor of Gotham City's morgue, which wouldn't have been all that surprising, had it not been for the fact that Anthony Wilmer's death had been all Reese's fault.

If only she hadn't lost control. If Reese hadn't let the Silver X take over, clouding her judgment after Nightwing's "death", none of this would've happened. If Reese had kept herself from losing her head over the thought of losing Dick, Wilmer might still be alive. Not that she was sorry that Wilmer was dead (she wasn't) but that didn't warrant the act of murder.

Sure, the dude had been a complete pedophile, and after what Dick had told her about what exactly had happened when she was under the influence of the fear toxin, Reese could begin to see why Dick had wanted to be the one to break Bruce's rule.

But, it still didn't change what had happened. Reese sat, stock-still, at Wayne Manor's dining table, holding a steaming mug of hot chocolate that Alfred had given her when Reese, Dick, and Wally had returned from their "rescue mission". She had since changed into an oversized lavender-colored sweater, white tank-top, black jeans, and tan ankle boots, which were actually surprisingly comfortable. Around her neck hung a silver medallion on a small chain that Reese's mother had given her last Christmas.

The medallion was designed for the journalism convention Reese had "attended" in Coast City. It was plated silver, with a feather quill-pen taking up the center. Reese was currently twirling the chain around her fingers, lost in thought.

"Miss Reese, I would advise you to not stare into your cocoa. It may get cold," The aforementioned British Butler jerked Reese from her thoughts. Alfred stood in the doorway, a quivering Jason Todd standing frightened behind him. Jason, Reese realized. Jason had seen the whole thing. What must he think of her now? Jason probably thought she was a monster like everyone else did.

"Thanks, Alfred," Reese said quietly. "I'm just...thinking," Alfred smiled softly at her and sat down at one of the chairs. He grasped both of Reese's hands in one of his and looked down at the now fifteen-year-old girl in front of him.

"In all of the years that I have worked for the Wayne family, whenever one of them has that 'thinking' look on their face, it normally means that something is on their mind and that it is troubling them. Now, I won't make you share your woes, but I've found that talking to someone normally helps," Reese raised a forlorn eyebrow.

She knew how good Bruce Wayne's butler was at giving advice, Dick had told her how Alfred had counseled Nightwing on some sort of "problem" he'd had before Luke's attack in Central, but Reese was still a bit skeptical. Eventually, though, she sighed and nodded.

"Sure, Alfred. I think I need some of the Great Pennyworth's excellent advice," Alfred chuckled at Reese's weak joke and took a deep breath before he spoke.

"Miss Reese, you  _do_ know that nobody blames you for what happened?" Reese's head shot up. She didn't want to counter Alfred's observations, but Reese  _highly_ doubted that absolutely  _nobody_ blamed her for Wilmer's death.

Maybe it would be better if she just disappeared, leaving Gotham with one less burden on their shoulders. Before Reese could do anything, she was bombarded by a pair of nine-year-old arms as Jason practically jumped her, and Reese wasn't all that surprised to feel tears on the side of Jason's face.

"It wasn't your fault," he whispered. "That man was evil. He deserved to die for what he did to you," Reese leaned back and stared at Jason, resolve prominent in her eyes.

"No, Jason, don't say that. Yes, I agree that Wilmer should have been punished for his assault of me, but nobody deserves to die like that. Not when I would have been able to stop it," She stood up and set Jason on the chair next to hers, then knelt down in front of the nine-year-old protege.

"Jason, listen to me," she said. "I know you want to believe that none of this was my fault, that Wilmer and Crane were responsible for what happened at the morgue, but truthfully, it was just as much my fault as it was theirs. I was so... _blinded_ by what I had seen with the fear toxin, that I lost control. I let the Silver X take over, and I wasn't strong enough to stop it, and now a man is dead because of me,"

Reese stood up and turned towards the grandfather clock that would take her down to the Batcave. Before she walked down the stairs, she turned back towards Jason with a sad smile. It would probably be the most painful to leave Jason and Lauren. Hopefully, Alfred, Dick, and Bruce would take care of her sister in Reese's absence. It wasn't like Reese was able to care for Lauren on her own now, anyway, seeing as how she was now two years younger than she had been yesterday.

"I'm sorry, Jason," she said quietly before she headed down the stairs and walked up to the transporter.

**Recognized Silver X B10**

When Reese stepped out of the Zeta tube into Mount Justice, the smell of something burning instantly assaulted her nostrils. Realizing that it was coming from the kitchen, Reese sprinted down the hallway in time to almost get conked in the head with a flying cookie sheet.

"Whoa!" Reese cried and ducked her head just as a pan full of blackened little disks flew through the air. The pan clanged against the cave's wall before it was levitated back into the kitchen. Still not entirely sure if she was about to get murdered by cookies or not, Reese cautiously peeked her head around the doorjamb to see Miss Martian gently hovering the burnt pan into the sink, full of bubbles.

"Did the recipe not work?" Reese called quietly, and M'gann whipped around in surprise before her face broke into a huge grin.

"Reese!" M'gann cried. "It's been forever since I've talked to you!" Reese laughed and hugged Miss M in return for a moment before leaning back.

"It hasn't been that long, Miss M," It had been pretty long. The last time Reese and M'gann had really had a conversation had been right after Silver X, Robin, Aqualad, and Nightwing had returned from Alaska, and debriefed Batman about all that had happened concerning Vincent Anthony, Weather Wizard, and Kallik. "Anyway," Reese said finally. "What are you up too?" M'gann smiled.

"Oh, nothing much. I tried making cookies, but it, obviously, didn't end too well. Hey," she called as Reese started to walk out. "I heard that Kaldur and Aquaman are on their way home from the Baltic Sea. Seems like they finally got that oil spill cleaned up," Reese was deaf to Miss Martian's words after that. Kaldur? Coming  _home_?

What would he think when he found out what she had done? When he found out that Reese had  _murdered_ somebody in cold blood? This was bad. This was  _really_ bad. If Aqualad discovered what she had done, he would be furious. Kaldur was normally a very calm, level-headed person, but when a person's morals were called into question, Kaldur's temper was as well.

"Reese? Reese, you okay?" Miss Martian's voice jerked Reese from her thoughts and the silver shapeshifter's head snapped up.

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for the heads-up, Miss M," Reese gave a small wave before she walked out of the kitchen and down the hall towards her room.

Once the door had slid shut, Reese slumped to the ground, her back pressed against the cool metal. If Aqualad found out what Reese, what _Silver X_ , had done, he would surely snap. She had said that Kaldur was normally a very calm person, but in extreme cases, like what happened to Dr.Wilmer, his principles could be called into question. 

She'd have to run away. Yes, that seemed to be the only way. Disappear off the face of the Earth, and Kaldur would never be able to fault her for Wilmer's death. She would be free from Kaldur'ahm's oppressive control over Reese's life. Now, only to figure out  _how_ exactly she was going to execute her plan.

Who did she know that had access to equipment capable of forging documents and had the financial stability to buy Reese a ticket to pretty much anywhere? Not Bruce, he would ask too many questions. If she enlisted Jason's help, the little Jay-bird would want to come with her. That left...Dick. Nightwing would help Reese escape, hopefully, and Dick was able to keep a secret for however long it took.

Yes, it would need to be Dick.

**Batcave; October 31st, 11:45 EDT**

Dick

"You want me to  _what_?" Dick cried out. This was crazy. It wasn't only because she still felt some sort of guilt about the morgue, it was because Reese wanted to  _leave_ , to run away, and not tell anyone else, aside from Nightwing, where she was going.

"I need you to get me out of the country," Reese repeated over the phone, much to Dick's shock. "It doesn't matter where. Paris, London, Venice, wherever. I just need to  _leave_ ," Dick spun around in Bruce's chair and rubbed a weary hand over his face.

"Why?" he asked quietly, and he heard Reese sigh before a small, timid voice that didn't normally come from Reese's voicebox gave Dick his answer.

"Kaldur's coming home. Bluebird, if he finds out what I did-" Dick cut Reese off with a sharp shout.

"Reese, that wasn't your fault!" Nightwing sighed before continuing in a somewhat-calmer manner. "Argent,  _Reese_ , listen to me. What happened to Wilmer was  _not. Your. Fault._ CADMUS was the one responsible for giving you the Silver X, not yourself. Waller was most likely the one to head up the project, and no one has heard from her in months, at least not since the museum exploded. Trust me, this was not your fault," Reese sighed, and Dick couldn't help but think that she was holding something more back. Before he could say anything though, Reese spoke.

"Just...meet me at Mount Justice in a few hours, okay? We'll figure out more there," Dick sighed and agreed reluctantly.

"Okay. Whatever you need, Argent. Just, please be careful okay? Scarecrow's still out there, and I don't want him coming after you," Reese promised, then hung up. Nightwing slumped in the chair and heaved a sigh. He couldn't really blame Reese for how she felt, Kaldur preferred to use his words instead of running headlong into a confrontation with any of their adversaries. Or at least, he  _used_ to be, until the Silver X made his emotional boundaries  _completely_ unstable.

"Nightwing?" A tired voice said, and Dick looked up to find Jason coming down the stairs. He was dressed in a pair of pajamas, seeing as how he had been out all night last night, and the events looked like they were beginning to take their toll.

"Jason," Dick said quietly. "What are you doing awake? Alfred said you'd need your rest," Robin shrugged.

"I couldn't sleep. Hey, any word from Reese? Alfred and I talked to her this morning and she seemed pretty glum," Dick shook his head and prepared to lie.

"No, I haven't talked to her, but I'll come and get you when she calls. Okay?" Jason still looked skeptical, but he nodded nonetheless.

"Okay," A yawn halted Jason's words, and Dick gave his adoptive brother a warm smile.

"Looks like our little Jay-bird needs his rest. Get some sleep Robin, and we'll talk later," Jason gave a tired nod and headed back up the stairs.

After he had left, Dick turned back to the Batcomputer and typed in a few words.

' **Departing International Flights From New England** '. If Reese really was serious about leaving, and Dick had a gut feeling that she was, it was only fair that he do whatever it took to help her, even if it got him on Aqualad's bad side. As they say, all's fair in love and war...

**Mount Justice; October 31st, 19:00 EDT**

Seven hours later, Dick was in Mount Justice, trying to find Reese. In a concealed pocket in his suit was her passport and a one-way plane ticket to Paris, with a connecting flight to Toulouse, where Batman had a contact that would hopefully take care of Reese until she was able to come home. Bruce and Alfred still didn't know what was going on, but Dick knew it would only be a matter of time.

Nightwing finally spotted Reese sitting on the edge of the swimming hole in the grotto, rolling a pebble in her palm before skipping it out over the water. Her head was framed by the soft lighting inside the cave, and it made Dick pause for a moment before announcing his presence.

"If you throw those rocks any harder, they might come alive and throw  _you_ into the pool," Reese looked up and gave Dick a soft smile.

"Hey," she said quietly. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this. My having to leave and all that jazz. I just..." she trailed off and Dick sat down next to her. After a moment, Nightwing made a bold move and wrapped his fingers around Reese's.

"I didn't need to agree to help you, Argent. I  _chose_ to. If you need to get away for a while, and Silver X needs to disappear, then I want to do whatever I can to help," Dick reached into his pocket and took out the small airline brochure, holding Reese's ticket. "Which is why I got you this," he handed the ticket packet to Reese, who took it with a slight quaver in her hand.

As Reese flipped through it, Dick sighed and looked out over the clear grotto pool. It seemed like only yesterday that Dick Grayson had discovered the existence of Reese Michaels, but in reality, it had been almost two years ago.

"Do you remember," Dick started after a moment of companionable silence. "When Jason first became Robin, and he 'accidentally' chained me to the cave's wall?" Reese laughed softly, and Dick smiled as well.

"I do," Reese said quietly. "You were  _so_ pissed because you had left your lockpick set in Gotham, and Bruce hadn't put the new ones in your Nightwing suit yet. It's hard to believe that Jason has been Robin for only a couple of months..." Reese trailed off, and Dick glanced at her from the corner of his eye. She seemed to be thinking hard about something, and Dick wanted to know what it was.

"What is it, Argent?" he asked quietly, and Reese took a deep breath before she turned around and faced Nightwing fully.

"Whatever happens next," Reese said quickly. "You do  _not_ tell Kaldur about what I'm going to do," Dick raised an eyebrow.

"Why would I tell Aqualad where you were going?" he asked, turning so he faced Reese. "Argent, I gave you my word. I wouldn't betray your trust so blatantly like that," The girl in front of him rolled her eyes, and Dick wondered what he had said to make her offended.

"You boys are all the same," Reese grumbled before she grabbed Dick's collar and pressed her lips to his. All Dick could do for a moment was a couple of blinks in complete shock, before his brain finally rebooted and he returned Reese's kiss, bringing his hand up to caress her cheek.

This was Dick Grayson's idea of a perfect kiss, or at least, it  _was_ , until both fifteen-year-olds were interrupted by the arrival of a teenage speedster. Trust Wally West to ruin a moment.

"Hey Nightwing, do you know where- _whoa_ ," Dick's eyes snapped open and he separated from Reese with a gasp, and his eyes flew towards the door, where Kid Flash was standing with his mouth wide open. In one hand he held a granola bar, in the other was a piece of paper.

"You need something KF?" Dick grumbled, and Wally flinched before stammering out,

"N-No! Just want to say-" He then sped towards the main cave, yelling, "Artemis! You owe me twenty bucks!" Reese and Nightwing's heads snapped up, and they both shot to their feet before sprinting into the main cave, just in time to see Artemis fork a twenty dollar bill over to Kid Flash's waiting palm.

"You _bet_  on us?" Reese cried angrily, and frankly, Dick couldn't blame her. He stalked over to where Wally was standing and thrust out a hand.

"Give me the Andrew Jackson, KF," Wally clenched his fists and held the money close to his body like a preschooler would with their favorite toy.

"No! I won it fair and square! It's mine now!" Dick glared, and he could see Wally composure begin to crack. But, before Dick was able to get his hands on the bill, a smirk grew on Wally's face and Kid Flash suddenly spun around and sped towards the other side of the cave, where he stood tauntingly, waving the twenty-dollar bill between his fingers.

Before Nightwing could run over there, Wally suddenly collapsed to the ground where he started to snore. In the back of his neck was a small tranquilizer dart that Dick realized was suddenly missing from his utility belt. Also, it seemed, was Reese.

Aforementioned shapeshifter stepped out from around the corner and held up a small crossbow. Artemis and Dick looked at Reese in shock, while the girl just shrugged.

"He'll be fine, just asleep for a few hours. Now," she gestured to the Zeta tubes before giving a pointed look towards Nightwing. "I'm going to go, and I'll see you later," Dick nodded and Reese stepped into the transporter.

**Recognized Silver X B10**

When she was gone, Artemis turned to Dick and promptly slugged Nightwing in the arm. As Dick rubbed his bicep, he turned to Artemis, who threw her hands in the air.

"When were you going to tell us that you and Reese were a thing?" Dick grumbled and headed towards the Zeta tube. He wanted to get out of the cave before this conversation turned into something he  _really_ didn't want to hear.

"It doesn't matter," he said simply and typed in his coordinates. "But, you will  _not_ tell Aqualad about this, okay?" Artemis laughed.

"Hell no!" she cried. "I want to see you guys deal with this mess all on your own," Nightwing rolled his eyes and walked into the Zeta tube.

**John F. Kennedy International Airport; November 1st, 07:00 EDT**

Reese

She couldn't believe she'd actually done that. Reese had  _kissed_ Nightwing. And not on the cheek in an "I'm glad you're helping me run away" kind of deal, oh no, one full on the lips, complete with tongue and everything. No, focus Reese. That had happened yesterday, and there would be plenty of time to stress over it on the seven-hour flight from New York to Paris.

"You're sure you want to do this?" Dick asked from Reese's left. She glanced at Nightwing out of the corner of her eye and saw Dick staring at her.  _Was_ she sure she wanted to do this? To run away, and not tell anyone where she went? To basically  _abandon_ Lauren, after everything they had lost?

"Yes," Reese said finally. "I'm sure. You have the letters?" After Reese had finished packing, she had taken some of the extra notebook paper that had been lying around her room in Wayne Manor and written a letter to each member of the Team, Lauren, Dick, Kaldur, and Jason included. In them was everything Reese wanted to say, without having to face the recipient head-on.

"Yeah, I have them," Dick answered and Reese nodded.

"Good, don't open yours until you've seen my plane take off. Give Lauren and Jason theirs when you get back to Gotham. Give the Team their letters-" Dick cut Reese off with a small chuckle.

"Argent, I think I can handle it. Just," he grabbed Reese's wrist as she turned to leave. "Be careful," he whispered. Still not knowing exactly why she was doing it, Reese leaned up and pressed a soft kiss to Dick's lips.

"I know, Bluebird. I'll be fine. While I'm gone, you'll take care of Lauren for me, right? I don't want to leave her without someone to take care of her," Dick gave a small nod, but before he could speak, a prim voice sounded over the intercom.

"AirFrance Flight 436 now boarding for a direct flight to Paris. Flight 436 is now boarding," Dick and Reese's eyes met before Reese threw her arms around Nightwing and hugged him as hard as she could.

"Thank you, Bluebird," Reese whispered in Dick's ear before she disentangled herself and grabbed her suitcase. As she was walking towards the access tunnel, she glanced back towards where Dick was standing and gave a small wave. Dick waved back and smirked mischievously.

"Don't eat too many crêpes!" he called, and Reese laughed.

"Don't worry!" she called back. "I'll only eat breakfast in the morning," With that, Reese stepped into the tunnel, and out of her old life as Reese Michaels.

She didn't see Dick's soft smile as she headed out of view, or the four words he spoke that he wouldn't speak again for almost another year.

"I love you, Reese."

**Mount Justice; November 1st, 09:30 EDT**

Dick

**Recognized Nightwing B01**

Dick was met with quite a shock when he stepped out of the Zeta tube and into Mount Justice, only to see Aqualad standing in front of the holo-computers, with the rest of the Team, sans Silver X, standing around him.

"Nightwing!" M'gann cried excitedly. "Look who's back! Kaldur got back only a few minutes ago," While she had been speaking, a tense, silent confrontation had sprung up between Nightwing and Aqualad. Dick knew that  _Kaldur_ knew that Dick was in love with Reese, and the lone Flying Grayson could only imagine what would happen if Aqualad discovered that Dick had kissed Reese, or that  _Reese_ had been the one to initiate it.

"A few minutes ago, you say?" Dick asked without breaking Kaldur's eye contact. "How  _fortunate_ that our leader should return  _now_ after everything that happened," With that, Dick spun around and walked down the hallway, ignoring M'gann's calls for him to come back. Okay, so he'd been a little harsh on the Atlantean, but frankly, Dick didn't care.

It was because of the fact that Kaldur wasn't here that Reese was captured by Scarecrow. That the fear toxin had been put into her veins, given her those terrible visions, and made her want to leave in the first place.

Like a ninja, Nightwing bypassed all of the rooms' security codes and stepped into each of the Team members' rooms, where he deposited Reese's letters. Dick himself hadn't opened his letter from Reese but was waiting for the right moment.

Luck, apparently, was not on his side because as Dick was walking out of Aqualad's room, he bumped into the Atlantean. Everything was still and silent for a moment for a moment before Kaldur snapped. He swung a fist towards Dick's head, but Nightwing ducked and swung a leg out, and swept Kaldur's own out from under him, and the Atlantean tumbled to the ground.

Kaldur flipped up and slammed Dick against the wall, forearm pressed against the Gothamite's throat. Dick knew this confrontation had been inevitable, but he just wished it had happened in a place less frequented by their teammates. Nonetheless, it was happening here and now, and Dick needed to win.

Much like when they were in Alaska, Nightwing brought his legs up and thrust them against Kaldur's chest. Aqualad flew back and thudded into the opposite wall, and Dick flipped so he was upright again.

"Where is she?" Kaldur growled, and Dick didn't need to wonder as to who he was talking about.

"I don't know," he said, which wasn't exactly a lie. He  _did_ know that Reese was currently on a plane flying over the Atlantic Ocean towards France, but he didn't have an exact location of her. So, it wasn't a true lie. Call it a half-truth.

"You're lying," Aqualad said, and started to stalk forward. "You know where she is!" Not taking any chances, Dick reached out and wrapped his arms around Kaldur's shoulders and  _threw_ the Atlantean down the corridor and into the main cave, startling everyone who was gathered there.

"What are you doing?" Miss Martian cried. Nightwing and Aqualad paid her no attention and just began to circle each other like territorial animals, which in some cases, was kind of accurate. Suddenly, Kaldur's pupils began to dilate, and Dick stumbled back in shock. He wouldn't shift here, would he? In front of everybody else?

It was too late. In Aqualad's place stood a massive jet-black lion, with a thick mane around his head. The Kaldur-lion opened his jaws, and Dick threw his hands over his ears just as a massive wave of sound entered the cave, a roar reaching 150 decibels. Not as loud as Reese's tiger-roar, but much louder than a regular lion's roar.

The soundwave threw Dick back, and Nightwing thudded into the cave's hard stone wall, where his head snapped back and slammed into the stone, making Dick see stars. As Nightwing fell to the ground, blood leaking from his ears, a blurry haze filled his vision. 

In it, Dick could see vague shapes, but he couldn't make out what they were. He thought he could hear Wally's voice crying out, but Dick wasn't sure. There was too much noise to think clearly. Finally, one clear face stood out among the blurs.

It was Reese. She was dressed in what she had been wearing yesterday, a lavender sweater with black jeans. She knelt down by Dick's head and rubbed the black hair away from Nightwing's eyes. She leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to Dick's forehead.

_Sleep Bluebird. You will wake soon, then you'll be able to find me..._

**xxxxxx**

Dear Dick,

I know you're helping me escape, but I wanted to get this off of my chest before you fully gave up on me. By now, my plane has long since taken off and I assume that Kaldur has returned as well. Please don't kill each other before I get back, because I don't want to have to plan a double funeral on  _your_ behalf. Anyway, about what happened in the grotto...please don't tell anyone about that, I don't know what Kaldur will do if he finds out what happened, so, aside from Wally and Artemis, no one will know about the kiss except for us. As for what it will mean for  _us_ when I return I can honestly say... I don't know. I have a lot of feelings to work through, so for now, I want to stay friends. Just know Bluebird, that I will always care for you.

Love, Reese

** xxxxxx **

Kaldur,

I know what you're thinking..."How can my girlfriend just up and leave without telling anyone?" Am I right? Well, know that I didn't not tell anyone. Nightwing knows... he's actually the one who got me my plane ticket to Paris in the first place. Yes, you read that correctly, I'm on my way to Paris. I don't know what I'll do there, but know that when I come back, you'll have no reason to be ashamed of me. I won't tell you any more than that, because there are things that I've done that I am  _not_ proud of, and I think it will be better if we have some distance for now. We'll talk more when I get back.

Sincerely, Reese Michaels

**xxxxxx**  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The epilogue is all that's left, and then I will post Project Silverbird, book 2!
> 
> NightSilver, I guess?


	22. Epilogue...Or In Which Dick Runs Away

_The vigilante practically flew through the darkened streets of Gotham City, running across rooftops and leaving nothing but blown trash in his wake. He was like a shadow, and no one had been entirely sure if he was even alive after the events of a year ago._

_A confrontation between two key members of a Team created by the Justice League left one in a three-month-long coma and the other on severe probation. Even now, seven months after Dick Grayson had awoken from his coma, there was still speculation on whether or not Nightwing was truly alive. Only the other Gotham vigilantes, including Batman, Robin, and Bruce Wayne's British butler Alfred, along with the rest of the Team, were absolutely sure that he was alive._

_"Robin to Nightwing," Jason's voice filtered through Dick's comm, and the sixteen-year-old hero skidded to a stop on the roof of a building that looked like it hadn't been used in at least fifty years. It was perfect._

_"Nightwing here," Dick said quietly, leaning down and looking through the dirtied glass window. "What do you need Jay-bird?" It took a few seconds for Jason to speak, but he eventually managed to get the words out._

_"It's just... it's been almost a year, are you sure you're okay? I mean, no one has heard from her, what if-"_

_"Reese is fine, Robin. She never actually said that she was going to keep in touch," A flash of movement from the corner of his eye caught Nightwing's attention, and he turned in time to only just dodge the fist that was suddenly flying towards his head. A tall, lanky figure unfolded themselves from their hiding place behind a nearby crate and snickered. Over their head was a burlap sack with eyeholes and a stitched mouth opening sewed into it. Scarecrow._

_It had taken Nightwing almost six months to track down Jonathan Crane, and Dick's sleep schedule had been severely depleted because of it. But, it had all been worth it, and Nightwing was now going to enact his revenge against Scarecrow, the man responsible for making Reese leave._

_"Ah, Nightwing," Scarecrow sneered. "Where's your girlfriend? Did Silver X deign not to come?" Dick scowled and didn't answer. No one had seen or heard from Reese in almost a year. At this point, the Justice League was adamant that she wasn't planning on coming back. Nightwing wasn't so sure. He'd known Reese for a year and known of her another two, there was no way Reese would leave, write everyone a letter detailing that they would "talk when she comes back", and then disappear off the face of the Earth._

_Which is why Dick was planning on running away himself and going to look for her. The Team wasn't going to survive without Reese. She was the heart of the Team, a shining light able to break through even the pitchest black. Maybe that was why Nightwing, the ghostly shadow from Gotham City was hopefully and desperately in love with her. Her light to his night._

_Nightwing turned and slammed his foot into Crane's ribs, throwing the fear doctor across the roof. Crane thudded into a jutting air conditioner, where he lay for a moment, stunned. Dick began to walk forward, eskrima sticks hanging by his sides._

_He was also desperately hoping that this didn't go south, because no one knew where he was right now. Well, Bruce probably knew, because he knew everything, but since Dick had awoken from his coma, the Batman had been a little overbearing. Truthfully, it had gotten a little old._

_"Your son and daughter are locked up in Arkham, Crane," Dick called, speaking of Malcolm and Molly Crane, the twin children of Scarecrow, also working under the aliases of Phobos and Tainta. "It's only a matter of time before you join them," Crane just smirked, and Dick cringed at the grotesque picture._

_" 'Join them'?" Scarecrow echoed. "I think not. If anything, it is you who should join the ones you love. If Reese isn't here, what does that mean?" Crane didn't give Dick a chance to answer before he took a small item from his pocket and chucked it across the roof. The metallic object glittered in the September moonlight, and Dick's breath caught when he recognized it._

_It was Reese's medallion. Her silver-plated feather quill-pen medallion. The same medallion that Reese had been wearing when they had said goodbye to each other at JFK the past year. That medallion had been from Reese's mother, she wouldn't just take it off._

_"What did you do to her?" Dick cried, leaping towards Crane and slamming his fist into Scarecrow's jaw. Crane's head snapped to the side, but the villain only cackled maliciously in response._

_"What do you think I did to her?" Crane gestured to the side, and Dick turned just to stumble back in shock. Because there, on the edge of the roof, stood Reese. She was covered in dozens of vicious bruises as if someone had beaten her brutally without letting up._

_"Reese?" Nightwing managed to croak out. Reese looked up and gave him a soft smile. She went to walk towards Dick, but her foot slipped, and she fell. "No!" Dick cried as he watched Reese slip from her perch, and her body tumbled over the edge of the building. Nightwing leaped forward and wrapped his hand around Reese's wrist._

_"Nightwing!" he heard Reese cry, and Dick made a wild grab for her fingertips as Reese slipped from his grasp, and plummeted to the ground._

_"Reese!"_

**Wayne Manor; September 1st, 02:10 EDT**

_Ten Months After Kaldur Came Home_

Dick shot up in bed with a sharp shout and drenched in a cold sweat. It had been a nightmare, just a nightmare. There was no confrontation with Scarecrow, and Reese wasn't dead. Scarecrow, Phobos, and Tainta  _had_ been locked up in Arkham Asylum, but that arrest had been fairly routine, and nothing had happened that would warrant such nightmares. And the dreams had been getting worse.

Sometimes it was Jason who died, sometimes Lauren, Bruce, or even Alfred. But, most of the time it was Reese. She would be there, just out of reach, but when Dick always tried to reach for her, she would slip and fall to her death, and there would be nothing Dick could do to stop it. 

The nightmares had been happening more frequently, ever since Dick had woken up from his coma. The head injury Nightwing had sustained after his clash with Aqualad had left Dick Grayson in a three-month-long coma, and Nightwing out of commission indefinitely. Since then, as far as he'd heard, Aqualad was on strict probation and was even rumored to have taken up counseling sessions with Black Canary.

Dick glanced at the digital clock on his nightstand and sighed heavily when he saw that it was only two in the morning. Dick sat up in bed and glanced around his room, taking in every little detail. There was his Flying Graysons poster, a framed gift from Jack Haley, a couple of Justice League action figures of heroes  _other_ than Batman, bought just to ruffle Bruce's feathers, and...Reese's medallion.

Dick had gotten it in a package about six months after Reese had left, so about four months ago, along with a small note saying, ' **Keep This Safe** '. It was the only vague attempt at communication anyone had gotten from Reese since she had left. _Kaldur_ hadn't even gotten anything. Ever since, Nightwing had taken the feather quill-pen everywhere, even on the few and far between missions that Batman was sending him on.

Now, Dick dangled the platinum chain between his fingers, watching as the medallion glittered in the pale moonlight as it slowly spun around. By now, Bruce and the rest of the League had basically given up on finding Reese, not that they had tried very hard in the first place. Well, Bruce had, mainly for Lauren's sanity, but had stopped after two months had warranted no leads whatsoever. Needless to say, Christmas last year was a very gloomy occasion at Wayne Manor. 

Realizing that he wouldn't be getting back to sleep anytime soon, Dick threw his legs over the sides of his bed and silently tiptoed downstairs into the kitchen. Alfred had said that a warm glass of milk helped with getting to sleep, but Dick had never tried it. It seemed like now was as good a time as any.

As Dick watched the milk warm up in the microwave, he gripped the kitchen counter in white-knuckled fists, images flashing through his head at lightning speed. Crane, holding Reese's silver medallion in his grimy fist, the symbol of his attack on her. Reese, standing like a beaten angel on the edge of the roof. Reese slipping, falling to her death.

Dick's grip tightened, and suddenly, the granite countertop snapped, and a chunk as big as Dick's head broke off and crashed to the floor, shattering into a million pieces. A pair of footsteps thundered down the stairs, before Alfred stepped into the kitchen in a robe and slippers, a shocked look on his face.

"Master Dick!" the British Butler cried. "What happened?" Dick shrugged and didn't look up.

"Nightmares," he said simply, and Alfred smiled softly in understanding. Bruce's older ward had been very distraught over the departure of Reese Michaels, and Alfred couldn't help but think that Dick's nightmares had something to do with the coma that Aqualad had put him in right after Reese had left. Teenage jealousy knew no bounds.

"Would you like to talk about it, Master Dick?" Alfred asked quietly, and Dick shook his head.

"Not really, no," Alfred nodded and started to walk away. Dick stared after him with a shocked look on his face. "Wait!" he cried, holding up a hand. "You aren't going to, like, interrogate me or anything?" Alfred chuckled and sat down at the table, gesturing for Dick to do the same. After he complied, the former MI-6 agent spoke.

"Master Dick, if you don't wish to talk about your nightmares, you don't need to. Like Yoko Ono, the Japanese multimedia artist once said, 'A dream you dream alone is only a dream'. Nightmares hardly ever come true, and when they do, they are rarely as bad as they were," Dick raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"I hardly think that's what she meant when she said that, Alfred," the butler gave a small smile and shook his head in fond exasperation.

"You didn't let me finish. The second half of Yoko Ono's quote is this, 'A dream you dream together is a reality'. I don't mean to imply that if you and Miss Reese were to have the same dream then it would most likely come true," he added quickly once Alfred saw Dick's face pale. "I think it's the 'together' part that is more important," Dick thought about it for a moment, then looked up.

"You think I should find her?" he asked breathlessly, barely daring to hope. If Nightwing were to go and look for Reese, what would the Team think? What would  _Bruce_ think? Plus, would Reese even  _want_ to come home? 

"If you truly are in love with Miss Reese," Alfred continued. "Then I think you  _should_ find her. Find Reese, and bring her home," Without saying anything more, Dick shot up from his chair and ran upstairs to his room, where he tossed a duffel bag onto his bed and started throwing clothes into it left and right. After about ten minutes, Dick paused. What was he doing? Running away in the middle of the night, without a word to anybody? This was how...This was how  _Reese_ left.

Bending down, Dick picked up Reese's medallion off of his nightstand and held it up to the moonlight. The silver bauble glittered, and Dick sighed. Maybe Alfred was right, maybe he  _should_ go and look for Reese. It wasn't like the Team was getting any smaller, on the contrary, both Babs and Garfield Logan had joined as Batgirl and Beastboy respectively in the past month. The Team could go on without him, right?

"Are you ready, Master Dick?" Alfred asked as the British Butler walked into Dick's room to find Nightwing staring out his window into the expansive gardens.

"What?" Dick asked distractedly before he straightened up and turned towards Alfred. "Oh, yeah, I'm ready. I'm just worried about Jason and Lauren. They'll be okay, won't they?" Alfred gave a solid nod and placed a hand against his robed chest.

"Master Dick, I give you my word that Bruce and I will do everything in our power to keep Robin and Miss Lauren safe. You have nothing to worry about," Dick nodded and shouldered his bag.

"Thanks, Alfred, for everything. I'll try to call as often as I can, I promise," Alfred smiled.

"I'll hold you to it, Master Dick," Alfred then took a small brochure out of his pocket and handed it to Dick. "I believe your plane leaves in a few hours, does it not?" The ticket was to Lyon, in France, Reese's last known location. Dick turned to go, but stopped halfway through the door, then spun around and engulfed Alfred in a big hug.

"Thanks, Alfred," he whispered before he slipped outside the Manor like a shadow in the night.

**Wayne Manor; September 1st, 07:30 EDT**

Five hours later Lauren and Jason thundered into the dining room, where Alfred had set a hearty breakfast out as if the events of earlier that morning had never happened. Apparently, Jason had stolen Lauren's favorite pair of boots and had hidden them somewhere in the Manor.

"Come on Jay-bird, tell me where my shoes are!" Lauren whined as the ten-year-old vigilante cackled from his spot on the opposite side of the table. Alfred sighed in exasperation as he watched the two interact. Lately, it seemed like the young Master Jason was quite infatuated with Miss Lauren, and would do, it seemed like  _anything_ , to gain her attention.

"Master Jason, please give Miss Lauren her boots back. You have to leave for school in little less than an hour," Jason groaned in compliance and picked Lauren's boots out from behind his back. He tossed them to her, and Lauren caught them gratefully.

"Stupid bird," Alfred heard Lauren grumble teasingly as they both sat down and dug into the waffles and bacon that the British Butler had prepared.

"Hey," Jason said after a few minutes. "Where's Dick? Shouldn't be up by now?" Unconsciously, Alfred tensed, and Bruce saw the minute action just as he walked into the kitchen.

"Dick isn't awake yet?" the Dark Knight asked, and Alfred shook his head.

"He had a bad nightmare last night. He only just got back to sleep," Jason piped up from where he was currently shoving an egg into his mouth.

"Hey, Alfred, I can go check on him if you want?" Alfred quickly waved his hands.

"No, no! That won't be..." Alfred trailed off because Jason was already gone and up the stairs to the second floor. "Necessary," he sighed in defeat, then beckoned Bruce off to the side.

"Where's Dick, Alfred?" Bruce asked once they were out of earshot of Lauren, who was calmly nibbling on a piece of bacon. Alfred sighed again and shook his head.

"He's about to get on a plane, departing promptly at eight o'clock," Bruce's eyes widened.

"You're letting him get on a  _plane_?" Batman hissed, careful to not let Lauren overhear. "Where to?"

"Lyon. He's going to look for Miss Reese. I think, if you leave now, you may be able to catch him," Bruce nodded and flew out the door, just as Jason came running down the stairs.

"Dick is gone!" Robin cried, and Lauren's fork clattered to her plate. In the past year, Dick had become a sort of surrogate brother to Lauren, caring for her in Reese's absence.

"We have to go find him!" Lauren cried, already heading towards the door. Alfred stopped her with a firm hand on Lauren's left shoulder.

"Bruce is already on his way," Alfred said gently. "For now, you and Master Jason have school, and I don't think you want to miss that,"

"I would gladly miss my science class!" Jason piped up from over by the closet, but Alfred silenced him with a glare and led the two pre-teens to the car. Once they were all inside and seat-belted, Alfred started the car but didn't go anywhere.

"Uh, Alfred, you okay?" Lauren asked warily, and Alfred sighed.

"Miss Lauren, Master Jason, are you absolutely sure you want to know where Master Dick has gone?" The looks that Jason and Lauren sent him were enough to almost make Alfred regret his decision to let Nightwing leave. Almost. "Well, he's going to look for Miss Reese..." Both Jason and Lauren started talking at once.

"What?"

"He's going to look for my  _sister_?"

"Alfred, we have to go with-"

"No!" Alfred cut Jason off abruptly. "This is Master Dick's journey to follow through with. Hopefully, when he returns, Reese will be with him..."

**John F. Kennedy International Airport; September 1st, 07:50 EDT**

"Dick Grayson!" A booming voice echoed throughout JFK, and Dick whipped around in time to see Bruce stalking across the airport's main lobby area, looking like a ferocious thundercloud with the way his rage was almost tangible in the air. If Bruce knew what Dick was up to, that meant Jason and Lauren most likely did as well.

"Sorry, Bruce!" Dick called back as he got closer to his gate. "I have to do this! I have to bring Reese home!" With that, Nightwing spun around and jogged into the access tunnel just as the flight attendant shut the door.

As Bruce Wayne watched Dick's plane take off, the billionaire could only think of all that Dick was doing for love for Reese. Bruce only wished that he could have that sort of love someday too. Bruce slumped into one of the plastic chairs in the waiting lounge and took out his phone.

"I take it you didn't catch him, Master Bruce?" Alfred's warm voice filtered through, and Bruce rubbed a hand over his face.

"No, Alfred, I didn't catch him. Are Lauren and Jason at school?" Alfred, who was currently driving away from Gotham Academy, nodded his head, even though Bruce couldn't see him.

"Yes, I just dropped them off. What is it you require, Master Bruce?" Bruce thought for a moment, then an idea popped into his head.

"Call Oliver and Dinah. Tell them we need to get in contact with Red Arrow. I believe Roy could help Dick with his search,"

"Should Master Dick know that Mr.Harper is assisting him?" 

"No, make this covert,"

"As you wish, Master Bruce,"

**Haly's International Traveling Circus: Bucharest, Romania; December 3rd, 18:40 GMT+2:00**

_Two Months Later_

"You're sure you haven't seen her?" Dick asked the ringmaster in front of him. Jack Haly glanced again at the picture in his hands, then shook his head sadly.

"Sorry Dick, I haven't. I think I would know if someone like her showed up here," Dick slumped into a chair in Jack's train car office and held his head in his hands.

"I've been looking for her, for  _two months_ ," he whispered hoarsely. "I need to know where she is," Haly gave Dick a warm smile and knelt down in front of the seventeen-year-old.

"Dick, look at me, you've been away from Gotham City for too long, maybe it's time to go home. I know Bruce will be worried about you," Dick stood up and started to pace, running his hands through his jet-black hair.

"No!" he cried before lowering his voice. "No, I-I can't go home yet. I need to know Reese is okay. I need to bring her home," Jack seemed to think about it for a moment before he nodded.

"Okay, I can see that I won't change your mind, but how about this? Our Bucharest show starts in ten minutes, and I kind of need a trapeze act. I don't want to bring back any memories, but..." Dick shook his head.

"No, Jack it's fine. I can do it. I need something to get my mind off of Reese anyway,"

And that is how twenty minutes later, Dick Grayson stood on top of the trapeze platform, holding onto the bar and dressed in an old Flying Grayson costume that Haly had somehow whipped up in the course of five minutes.  The applause was deafening as everyone welcomed Haly to the center ring.

"Attention!" the owner cried, and the crowd fell silent. "Tonight, and only tonight, we have a very special trapeze act performance for you. He's the grown son of John and Mary Grayson, God rest their souls, and he has agreed to do a special performance for you all tonight. Please welcome, Dick Grayson! The last of the Flying Graysons!" That was Dick's cue and the teen jumped from the platform and entered immediately into a double flip that had the crowd gasping in awe.

Dick had forgotten how much  _fun_ doing the trapeze could be. It was like everything else melted away, and all there was in the world was Dick and the swinging bar. After another flip, Dick spun around to hang upside down by his legs on the trapeze, just in time to see an arrow flying towards his head.

The crowd and Haly cried out in warning, but Dick only vaulted from the trapeze onto the platform, grabbing the arrow from the air as he did so. For a moment after he had landed, there was nothing but silence, before the audience erupted into immense applause, and Dick swore he could almost hear Jack's sigh of relief as they both realized that the crowd thought that the arrow was all part of the act.

There also seemed to be a piece of paper tied to the shaft, and Dick unrolled it, only for his breath to catch as he read the three words printed on the letter. ' **She's in**   **Kathmandu** ', it read. The arrow was a dark red, and the feather fletching seemed familiar, but it took Nightwing a few moments to place it.

Red arrow...Red _Arrow_... _Roy_. Dick scrambled down the ladder and gestured to Jack. As the ringmaster walked over, Dick practically shoved the small piece of parchment into Haly's hands. As Jack read it, the ringmaster's eyebrows got higher and higher. When Jack was finished reading, he looked up to find that Dick was already gone, and the arrow was lodged into the wooden pole the led to the high-wire.

Jack laughed as he announced the next act.

"Go find your girl," he whispered when they had started.

"Nightwing..."


End file.
